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Freight Facts and Figures 2008

Table 1-2. Population and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by Region: 1980-2007

Although freight moves throughout the United States, the demand for freight transportation is driven primarily by the geographic distribution of population and economic activity.  While both population and economic activity have grown faster in the West and South than in the Northeast and Midwest, the growth in economic activity per capita has been highest in the Northeast.

Table in Excel format | Historical data

Empty cell. 1980 1990 2000 2006 2007 Percent change,
1980 to 2007
Resident Population (thousands) 226,549 248,789 (R) 282,194 (R) 298,755 301,621 33
Northeast 49,136 50,828 (R) 53,668 (R) 54,590 54,681 11
Midwest 58,868 59,670 (R) 64,497 (R) 66,128 66,389 13
South 75,372 85,454 (R) 100,568 (R) 108,895 110,455 47
West 43,173 52,837 (R) 63,462 (R) 69,142 70,097 62
Blank cell.
GDP ($ 2000 millions)1 5,054,549 6,994,329 (R) 9,749,104 (R) 13,119,937 13,743,020 172
Northeast 1,107,283 1,604,121 (R) 2,077,436 (R) 2,697,566 2,844,290 157
Midwest 1,262,917 1,566,939 (R) 2,174,719 (R) 2,701,362 2,809,097 122
South 1,608,531 2,220,755 (R) 3,212,076 (R) 4,567,582 4,791,796 198
West 1,075,817 1,602,514 (R) 2,284,873 (R) 3,153,427 3,297,837 207
Blank cell.
GDP per capita ($ 2000)1 22,311 28,113 (R) 34,548 (R) 43,915 45,564 104
Northeast 22,535 31,560 (R) 38,709 (R) 49,415 52,016 131
Midwest 21,453 26,260 (R) 33,718 (R) 40,851 42,313 97
South 21,341 25,988 (R) 31,939 (R) 41,945 43,382 103
West 24,919 30,329 (R) 36,004 (R) 45,608 47,047 89

Key: R = revised.

1As of October 26, 2006, the Bureau of Economic Analysis renamed the gross state product (GSP) seried to gross domestic product (GDP) by state.

Note: Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.

Sources:

Population: 1980-1990: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2004-2005 (Washington, DC:  2005). 2000-2007: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Population Division, Annual Population Estimates, table 8, available at www.census.gov/popest/states/NST-ann-est.html as of June 5, 2008.

Gross Domestic Product: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts, available at www.bea.gov/regional/ as of January 13, 2009.

 

 


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