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Freight Facts and Figures 2009

Table 1-2. Population and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by Region: 1980-2008

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 2007 2008 Percent change,
1980 to 2008
Resident Population (thousands) 226,549 248,789 (R) 282,172 (R) 301,290 304,060 34
Northeast 49,136 50,828 (R) 53,667 (R) 54,762 54,925 12
Midwest 58,868 59,670 (R) 64,493 (R) 66,313 66,561 13
South 75,372 85,454 (R) 100,558 (R) 110,335 111,719 48
West 43,173 52,837 (R) 63,454 (R) 69,881 70,855 64
GDP ($ 2000 millions)1 5,054,549 6,994,329 (R) 9,749,103 (R) 11,439,232 11,523,637 128
Northeast 1,107,283 1,604,121 2,077,436 (R) 2,410,543 2,439,675 120
Midwest 1,262,917 1,566,939 2,174,719 (R) 2,367,972 2,376,526 88
South 1,608,531 2,220,755 3,212,076 (R) 3,883,705 3,907,737 143
West 1,075,817 1,602,514 2,284,873 (R) 2,776,103 2,797,637 160
GDP per capita ($ 2000)1 22,311 28,113 (R) 34,550 (R) 37,967 37,899 70
Northeast 22,535 31,560 (R) 38,710 (R) 44,019 44,418 97
Midwest 21,453 26,260 (R) 33,720 (R) 35,709 35,704 66
South 21,341 25,988 (R) 31,942 (R) 35,199 34,978 64
West 24,919 30,329 (R) 36,008 (R) 39,726 39,484 58

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. Chained dollars are not additive, especially for periods farther away from the base year of 2000. Because of this, GDP for all regions is not equal to the total GDP.

Sources:

Population: 1980-1990: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2004-2005 (Washington, DC:  2005); 2000-2008: 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 12, 2009.

Gross Domestic Product: 1980-1990: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts, available at www.bea.gov/regional/ as of June 12, 2009; 2000-2008: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts, available at www.bea.gov/regional/ as of June 12, 2009.

 

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