The first preliminary estimate released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reports US real GDP increased by 5.7 percent in 2021, the U.S. economy bounced back from its pandemic-induced slump in 2021, growing at the fastest rate since the recession, and made up for the 3.4 percent decrease suffered in 2020.
Increases in personal consumption expenditure (both goods and services) and private domestic investment were the main drivers behind the upswing, as government spending stalled and imports outpaced exports, leading to a negative overall contribution from international trade.
Personal consumption, by far the largest component of the GDP, increased by 7.9 percent compared to the previous year, thanks to a steep increase in spending on (durable) goods and a more moderate rebound of service spending compared to lockdown-stricken 2020. The following chart breaks down the 2021 GDP into its four components and shows how much each component contributed to the total growth of 5.7 percent.
Graph By Statista
