Gross domestic product (GDP) is the total value of all final services and goods that were produced in the territory of the country by its residents during the year. This value is expressed in the prices of end customers and includes the results of the activities of all work units operating in the economic sector of a given country. In the world GDP ranking, the palm belongs to the United States of America.
Description of GDP
Gross domestic product is an important key quantitative indicator of economic development, which is used all over the world to summarize the results of state economic activity, as well as its pace and level of development. Combination with other indicators allows the use of GDP to characterize various aspects of the economic process and analyze fluctuations in its conjuncture. In the absence of more appropriate indicators of income and well-being, GDP is a “litmus test” of the standard of living of a country's population.
GDP as an indicator of the well-being of residents is considered a compromise solution, often used in international practice.
Usually, two methods are used to calculate gross domestic product. The first is the summation of all the economic revenues of the state - namely, wages, rent, profits and interest on capital. The second is to add up all expenditures on consumption, investment, net exports (minus imports), and government purchases of goods and services. In theory, the result of these calculations should be equal in both cases, since the expenses of one side of economic relations are always income for the other side.
US GDP
The gross domestic product of the United States is by far the largest in the world, and the economy of this country is the largest economy on the planet. The year before last, America's nominal GDP was $ 15.811 trillion, surpassing all other countries. In 2014, experts expect the growth of the US gross domestic product by 3.5%, while in 2015, in their opinion, the US GDP will grow by another 3.7%.
On a per capita basis, the US GDP in 2012 was $ 49,601, which is the sixth largest in the world.
At different times, the share of American GDP gradually increased and then fell - for example, in 1800 its size did not exceed 2% of the world economy, and by 1900 it had already grown to 10%. In 1945, the US GDP was more than 50% (due to the restoration of post-war destruction), but by the end of 1960 it fell to 26.7% and still remains at about the same level. As for the division of the American gross domestic product by economic sectors, the service sector gives the highest indicators (79.6%), while industry and agriculture give GDP indicators of 19.2% and 1.2%, respectively.
