Gross Domestic Product by State: Quarter Three Data Release 

By Taylor Hendrix, Workforce Insights Analyst

What is Gross Domestic Product?

Gross domestic product (GDP) by state is the market value of goods and services produced by labor and property located in a state. When referring to “real dollars” vs. “current dollars” in the economic world, “real dollars” are inflation-adjusted values, and “current dollars” are reflective of prices for the period when the transactions occurred. Analyzing GDP is the most comprehensive measure of U.S. economic activity conducted by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.[1]

According to the BEA’s release, real and current GDP increased in all 50 states in the third quarter of 2023. The percent change for real GDP ranged from 9.7 percent in Kansas to 0.7 percent in Arkansas, and the percent change for current GDP ranged from 12.8 percent in Texas to 4.1 percent in Arkansas.

How does South Carolina compare to the Southeast region?

South Carolina vs. the Southeast

For the third quarter of 2023, the Southeast[2] region was a 6.1 trillion current dollar economy and a 4.9 trillion real dollar economy. South Carolina fell in the middle of the group, with a 325 billion current dollar economy and a 261 billion real dollar economy. The state with the largest economy was Florida at 1.6 trillion current and 1.3 trillion real dollars, and the state with the smallest economy was West Virginia with 100 billion current and 80 billion real dollars. Below is a graphic depicting the 2023 current-dollar figures for the Southeast region.

As of the third quarter, the current dollar GDP percent change for the Southeast region was 8.3, a decrease from 9.8 at the end of 2022. Louisiana was the only state in the region to experience stronger annualized growth in the 3rd quarter compared to 2022, going up by .1 percentage points. South Carolina had the next strongest results, reporting only a 0.3 percentage point drop between the periods. See the table below for further information. (Note: Quarterly percent changes are presented at annualized rates.)

[1] Bureau of Economic Analysis, Gross domestic product by state and personal income by state, 3rd quarter 2023, https://www.bea.gov/news/2023/gross-domestic-product-state-and-personal-income-state-3rd-quarter-2023

[2] The Southeast region consists of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.