National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) Table 1.1.1 · Real gross domestic product, percent change from the preceding quarter
How fast is the US economy growing?
The growth rate of real GDP was 3.4% in the quarter ended , down 0.5 percentage points from a year earlier.
Real GDP growth, seasonally adjusted, each quarter
Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to .
Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .
Real GDP growth, change from a year earlier, each quarter (ours)
Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to .
Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .
Each point is one quarter of the series as the source publishes it, or a change worked out from those values (ours). The US recessions are shaded. Pointing at the chart shows the quarter and the value.
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Inspect and compare dates
The newest quarter beside the one before it and the nearest ones a year, five and ten years earlier. The last ten years are in the table under "The numbers behind the chart".
| Measure | Latest | The quarter before | A year earlier | Five years earlier | Ten years earlier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarter | |||||
| Real GDP growth | 3.4% | 2.2% | 3.9% | 3.2% | 2.9% |
| Change over a year | −0.5 pts | −1.8 pts | +0.7 pts | −31.7 pts | +1.3 pts |
The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.
Observed .
Right now
The growth rate of real GDP was 3.4% in the third quarter of 2026, the highest since the third quarter of 2025.
Over a year it is down 0.5 percentage points (ours).
ChangeOurs
| Period | Then | Change |
|---|---|---|
| One quarter | 2.2%, the rate in | +1.2 percentage points |
| Four quarters | 3.9%, the rate in | −0.5 percentage points |
| Five years | 3.2%, the rate in | +0.2 percentage points |
| Ten years | 2.9%, the rate in | +0.5 percentage points |
In historyOurs
The growth rate of real GDP of 3.4% in was higher than in 171 of the 317 other quarters since , the same in 6 and lower in 140.
Highest since : 34.9% in . Lowest since : −28.0% in .
AverageOurs
Average since : 3.19% (ours, a plain mean of the 318 quarters).
Understanding the growth rate of real GDP
Where it stands today
The growth rate of real GDP was 3.4% in the third quarter of 2026.
What does the growth rate of real GDP measure?
Gross domestic product (GDP) is the value of the goods and services produced in the United States. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) publishes it each quarter, first as an advance estimate about a month after the quarter ends. Real GDP is GDP with the change in prices taken out, so its growth rate measures the change in the quantity produced.
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The figure is the percent change from the preceding quarter at an annual rate: the quarter's change is compounded to a year, which gives the growth a year would have if the quarter's pace lasted for four quarters. It is seasonally adjusted.
What 500metrics adds: the change over a year and over five years in percentage points, the highest and lowest value since the series begins, and the last quarter that was higher or lower.
The numbers behind the chart
What was the growth rate of real GDP in each quarter?The last ten years, 40 quarters, newest first; the chart and the file have every quarter since 1947 Q2
| Quarter | Value | Change over a year |
|---|---|---|
| 3.4% | −0.5 pts | |
| 2.2% | −1.8 pts | |
| 2.5% | +2.4 pts | |
| 0.2% | −2.2 pts | |
| 3.9% | +0.7 pts | |
| 4.0% | +0.4 pts | |
| 0.1% | −1.3 pts | |
| 2.4% | −1.2 pts | |
| 3.2% | −1.3 pts | |
| 3.6% | +1.4 pts | |
| 1.4% | −2.0 pts | |
| 3.6% | +0.9 pts | |
| 4.5% | +1.8 pts | |
| 2.2% | +1.6 pts | |
| 3.4% | +4.4 pts | |
| 2.7% | −4.1 pts | |
| 2.7% | −0.5 pts | |
| 0.6% | −6.5 pts | |
| −1.0% | −7.2 pts | |
| 6.8% | +2.2 pts | |
| 3.2% | −31.7 pts | |
| 7.1% | +35.1 pts | |
| 6.2% | +11.4 pts | |
| 4.6% | +1.8 pts |
Show 16 more rows
| Quarter | Value | Change over a year |
|---|---|---|
| 34.9% | +30.1 pts | |
| −28.0% | −31.4 pts | |
| −5.2% | −7.7 pts | |
| 2.8% | +2.2 pts | |
| 4.8% | +2.3 pts | |
| 3.4% | +1.3 pts | |
| 2.5% | −0.8 pts | |
| 0.6% | −4.0 pts | |
| 2.5% | −0.7 pts | |
| 2.1% | −0.2 pts | |
| 3.3% | +1.3 pts | |
| 4.6% | +2.4 pts | |
| 3.2% | +0.3 pts | |
| 2.3% | +1.0 pts | |
| 2.0% | −0.3 pts | |
| 2.2% | +1.5 pts |
What do these figures leave out, and how are they cited?Limits, dates and how to cite
What this number cannot tell you
- BEA publishes each quarter three times, as an advance estimate about a month after the quarter ends and as a second and a third estimate in the two months after, and revises it again in its annual updates. This page shows the newest estimate of every quarter, so an earlier quarter can differ from the figure first published.
- An annual rate is not the growth of a year. It states what a year's growth would be if the quarter's pace lasted for four quarters, so one quarter can differ widely from the next.
- The changes and the ranks are ours, worked out from the values BEA publishes; a change is in percentage points.
- This product uses the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) Data API but is not endorsed or certified by BEA.
Observed . Checked .
How to cite this
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, National Income and Product Accounts, Real gross domestic product, percent change from the preceding quarter, through the third quarter of 2026. Compiled by 500metrics, "How fast is the US economy growing?", https://500metrics.com/gdp-growth.
Can the data be downloaded?gdp-growth.csv
Download the full history as CSV: 318 rows, to , 5,360 bytes.
Our text and compilation: CC BY 4.0.
Recession dates from the National Bureau of Economic Research.
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