Introduction
California vs. United States
California:
2023 GDP = $3,862,171M
2023 Percent of U.S. = 14.12%
U.S.:
2023 GDP = $27,360,935M
Nationally, GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is widely regarded as the foremost blue-chip barometer for tracking and calibrating the economic performance of the economy nationwide. Like its closely followed national counterpart, the GDP of the state of California is the most comprehensive measure of output of all goods and services produced by labor and property located within California. It is a market valuation of the goods and services-both private and public-produced within a state economy.
Unlike the widely and frequently reported employment and job numbers that measure labor as one of the units of input into production, GDP is a valuation of the output. Also, while State Personal Income is representative of the "purchasing power" of those that reside within a state, think of Gross Domestic Product as representative of the "producing power" of that state.
For a more detailed and technical explanation of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by State compiled by the Regional Product Branch of Bureau of Economic Analysis please refer to the July 2013 Survey of Current Business article, (pp. 115-120).

BEA: Definition

GDP by state is the state counterpart of the Nation's gross domestic product (GDP), the Bureau's featured and most comprehensive measure of U.S. economic activity. GDP by state is derived as the sum of the GDP originating in all the industries in a state.

The statistics of real GDP by state are prepared in chained (2017) dollars. Real GDP by state is an inflation-adjusted measure of each state's gross product that is based on national prices for the goods and services produced within that state. The statistics of real GDP by state and of quantity indexes with a base year of 2017 were derived by applying national chain-type price indexes to the current-dollar GDP-by-state values for the 64 detailed NAICS-based industries for 1997 forward.

The chain-type index formula that is used in the national accounts is then used to calculate the values of total real GDP by state and of real GDP by state at more aggregated industry levels. Real GDP by state may reflect a substantial volume of output that is sold to other states and regions. To the extent that a state's output is produced and sold in national markets at relatively uniform prices (or sold locally at national prices), real GDP by state captures the differences across states that reflect the relative differences in the mix of goods and services that the states produce. However, real GDP by state does not capture geographic differences in the prices of goods and services that are produced and sold locally.

United States. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Product Division.
BEA News Release (GDP by State). 2013. Web.
https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gdp-state.

BEA: Relation of GDP by state to U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

An industry's GDP by state, or its value added, in practice, is calculated as the sum of incomes earned by labor and capital and the costs incurred in the production of goods and services. That is, it includes the wages and salaries that workers earn, the income earned by individual or joint entrepreneurs as well as by corporations, and business taxes such as sales, property, and Federal excise taxes that count as a business expense.

GDP is calculated as the sum of what consumers, businesses, and government spend on final goods and services, plus investment and net foreign trade. In theory, incomes earned should equal what is spent, but due to different data sources, income earned, usually referred to as gross domestic income (GDI), does not always equal what is spent (GDP). The difference is referred to as the "statistical discrepancy."

Starting with the 2004 comprehensive revision, BEA's annual industry accounts and its GDP-by-state accounts allocate the statistical discrepancy across all private-sector industries. Therefore, the GDP-by-state statistics are now conceptually more similar to the GDP statistics in the national accounts than they had been in the past.

U.S. real GDP by state for the advance year, 2012, may differ from the Annual Industry Accounts' GDP by industry and, hence NIPA (National Income and Product Account) GDP, because of different sources and vintages of data used to estimate GDP by state and NIPA GDP. For the revised years of 2009-2011, U.S. GDP by state is nearly identical to GDP by industry except for small differences resulting from the GDP-by-state accounts' exclusion of overseas Federal military and civilian activity (because it cannot be attributed to a particular state). The GDP-by-industry statistics are identical to those from the 2012 annual revision of the NIPAs, released in July 2012. However, because of revisions since July 2012, GDP in the NIPAs may differ from U.S. GDP by state.

United States. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Product Division.
BEA News Release (GDP by State). 2013. Web.
https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gdp-state.

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California Gross Domestic Product, 2018-2023
Current vs. Chained 2017 Dollars (Billions)
California Gross Domestic Product, 2018-2023
Current vs. Chained 2017 Dollars (Billions)
Figure 1.
Figure 1 depicts California's annual gross domestic product over 2018-2023 in current and constant (chained 2017) dollars. Constant dollar measurements remove the effects of inflation. They allow for comparison of changes in the real total good and services output of California over time.
When measured in current dollars, California's GDP increased 33.20%, from $2,900B in 2018 to $3,862B in 2023. When measured in constant 2017 dollars to adjust for inflation, it advanced 13.41%, from $2,851B in 2018 to $3,233B in 2023.
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Real Gross Domestic Product Indices (2017=100): 2017-2023
Real Gross Domestic Product Indices (2017=100): 2017-2023
Figure 2.
Figure 2 shows California's real gross domestic product growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with the United States. The growth indices shown here express each region's real gross domestic product in 2017 as a base figure of 100, and the real gross domestic products in later years as a percentage of the 2017 base figure. This method allows for more direct comparison of differences in real gross domestic product growth between regions that may differ vastly in size.
California's overall real GDP growth was 17.97% over 2017-2023 outpaced the United States' increase of 14.10%.
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Gross Domestic Product as a Percent of the United States Total: 2017-2023
Gross Domestic Product as a Percent of the United States Total: 2017-2023
Figure 3.
Another interesting and insightful way of contrasting the gross domestic product growth of California is to compare its individual percentage contributions to the United States' total gross domestic product over time, as shown in Figure 3. A rising share means a region's gross domestic product grew faster, or declined less, than the United States' gross domestic product, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly.
In 2017, California's GDP comprised 13.97% of the United States' GDP, while in 2023 it equated to 14.12% thereby yielding a +0.14% share-shift.
   
 
Gross Domestic Product Share-Shift
2023 vs. 2017
 
Share-
Shift*
 
2023
vs.
2017
+0.14%
=
14.12%
-
13.97%
 
   
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California Real Gross Domestic Product:
Annual Percent Change, 2018-2023
California Real Gross Domestic Product:
Annual Percent Change, 2018-2023
Figure 4.
Figure 4 displays the short-run pattern of California's real gross domestic product growth by tracking the year-to-year percent change over 2018-2023. The average annual percent change for the entire 6-year period is also traced on this chart to provide a benchmark for gauging periods of relative high--and relative low--growth against the backdrop of the long-term average.
On average, California's real GDP grew at an annual rate of 2.83% over 2018-2023. The state posted its highest growth in 2021 (7.56%) and recorded its lowest growth in 2020 (-1.27%). In 2023, California's real GDP grew by 2.07%
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California Real Gross Domestic Product:
Annual Percent Change and Decade Averages Over 2018-2023
California Real Gross Domestic Product:
Annual Percent Change and Decade Averages Over 2018-2023
Figure 5.
Figure 5 again traces the annual percent change in California's real gross domestic product since 2018, but this time they are displayed with the average growth rate for 2020-2023.
During the 2020s, California's annual real GDP growth rate averaged 2.26%.
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Real Gross Domestic Product Growth:
Average Annual Percent Change by Decade
Real Gross Domestic Product Growth:
Average Annual Percent Change by Decade
Figure 6.
Figure 6 compares the decade average growth rates for California noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for the nation.
Relative to nationwide real gross domestic product growth trends, California and outperformed the nation over 2020-2023 (2.26% vs. 2.02%).
   
 
Real* Gross Domestic Product Growth:
Average Annual Percent Change
 
 
 
2.83
2.26
2.07
 
2.25
2.02
2.54
 
   
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Interactive TableTip: To augment your analysis click on the column headers in the following table to rank and/or sort the data.

   
 
California:
Gross Domestic Product, 2017-2023
 
2017
 
2,740,550
1.000
2,740,550
100.0
N
13.97
2018
 
2,899,531
1.040
2,850,970
104.0
4.03
14.04
2019
 
3,062,159
1.081
2,962,792
108.1
3.92
14.23
2020
 
3,068,809
1.067
2,925,147
106.7
-1.27
14.39
2021
 
3,416,939
1.148
3,146,185
114.8
7.56
14.48
2022
 
3,641,643
1.156
3,167,461
115.6
0.68
14.15
2023
 
3,862,171
1.180
3,233,151
118.0
2.07
14.12
Source: Calculations by the United States Regional Economic Analysis Project (US-REAP)
with data provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis
April 2024
REAP_PI_SA1400_2000_PN
 
   
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Interactive TableTip: To augment your analysis click on the column headers in the following table to rank and/or sort the data.

   
 
United States:
Gross Domestic Product, 2017-2023
 
2017
 
19,612,102
1.000
19,612,102
100.0
N
2018
 
20,656,516
1.030
20,193,896
103.0
2.97
2019
 
21,521,395
1.055
20,692,087
105.5
2.47
2020
 
21,322,950
1.032
20,234,074
103.2
-2.21
2021
 
23,594,031
1.092
21,407,692
109.2
5.80
2022
 
25,744,108
1.113
21,822,037
111.3
1.94
2023
 
27,360,935
1.141
22,376,906
114.1
2.54
Source: Calculations by the United States Regional Economic Analysis Project (US-REAP)
with data provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis
April 2024
REAP_PI_SA1400_2000_PN
 
   
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