Bureau of Economic Analysis — GDP, National Accounts & PCE

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) is the U.S. government's official scorekeeper of the economy — the federal statistical agency that publishes GDP, the PCE price index, and the full national income and product accounts that underpin every major economic policy decision in Washington.

BEA sits within the Department of Commerce with roughly 500 economists. Its two most consequential outputs are GDP — the broadest measure of U.S. economic output, published three times per quarter and revised for decades afterward — and the monthly PCE price index, the Federal Reserve's official 2% inflation target measure. When the Fed raises or cuts interest rates, it is responding in real time to BEA's PCE data. When Congress argues over whether the economy is in recession, BEA's GDP numbers define the terms of the debate. Understanding what BEA produces, when it publishes, and how it differs from the BLS is essential for anyone who monitors economic policy risk.

BEA is not BLS. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) measures prices (CPI) and labor markets (unemployment). BEA measures national income and output (GDP, PCE). CPI and PCE both measure inflation but differ in formula, scope, and weight — PCE consistently runs 0.3–0.5 percentage points below CPI for structural reasons detailed below. The Fed targets PCE, not CPI.

Legal Authority

BEA's core statutory foundation is 15 U.S.C. § 1527, enacted as part of the Act of June 25, 1948, which formally established the Bureau within the Department of Commerce and charged it with preparing and publishing national income and product accounts. The BEA Director is a presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed position. Additional authority derives from:

• 15 U.S.C. § 1516a — directs BEA to compile and publish economic statistics, giving it broad mandate to collect and disseminate data describing the structure and performance of the U.S. economy.
• 31 U.S.C. § 3511 — grants OMB authority over statistical policy coordination; OMB's Statistical Policy Directives (especially Directive No. 1 on independence of principal statistical agencies) govern BEA's operational independence.
• 44 U.S.C. § 3501 et seq. (Paperwork Reduction Act) — requires OMB clearance for information collections; BEA surveys of businesses for I-O and GDP-by-industry data operate under PRA clearance.
• OMB Statistical Policy Directive No. 1 — classifies BEA as a principal federal statistical agency, insulating its published data from political review before release; BEA's advance GDP estimates cannot be previewed by the White House or Treasury before the public release.

BEA does not have independent regulatory authority; it is a statistical agency. Its independence norm is institutional rather than statutory — unlike the BLS or Census Bureau, BEA lacks specific legislation prohibiting political interference with its releases, making OMB's policy directive the primary bulwark.

Key Mechanics

BEA constructs national accounts by integrating administrative data, surveys, and models across hundreds of source datasets:

GDP production chain: BEA receives monthly source data from the Census Bureau (retail sales, manufacturing, trade), BLS (employment cost index, PPI components), IRS (corporate tax filings), USDA (farm income), and dozens of other agencies. The advance GDP estimate uses ~85% of the needed source data; the final estimate uses essentially 100%. BEA applies seasonal adjustment, chain-weighting (to remove the effect of price changes from volume measures), and benchmark revision when more comprehensive census data becomes available.

PCE construction: Monthly PCE spending data flows from Census Bureau retail trade surveys and service industry surveys. PCE prices (the deflator) are built partly from CPI components (BLS) but re-weighted using GDP accounts data, which is why PCE and CPI diverge. BEA applies the Fisher chain index to compute real PCE, which eliminates the substitution bias in CPI's fixed-weight Laspeyres formula.

Publication timeline (quarterly GDP):

1. Advance estimate — released ~28 days after quarter ends; market-moving; based on incomplete data
2. Second estimate (preliminary) — released ~28 days later; incorporates full retail trade and trade data
3. Third estimate (final) — released ~28 days after second; incorporates income-side data
4. Annual revision — released each July; revises back 3 years using newly available source data
5. Comprehensive revision — every 5 years; rewrites full historical series back to 1929

Confidentiality: Business survey data BEA collects is protected under the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA, 44 U.S.C. § 3501 note). BEA may share non-public data with Census and BLS under inter-agency data sharing for statistical purposes only.

What It Produces

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

GDP — the total value of all goods and services produced within the United States in a given period — is published approximately four weeks after each quarter ends as the advance estimate, revised to the preliminary estimate (month 2), then the final estimate (month 3). The advance estimate is based on incomplete source data (only two months of trade and inventory data are available) and is frequently revised significantly. After the final quarterly estimate, GDP is revised again in annual revisions (July of each year) and comprehensive revisions (every 5 years, which rewrite 50+ years of history).

GDP is measured from the expenditure side as: C + I + G + (X − M):

• C (Personal Consumption Expenditures): the largest component (~70% of GDP); durable goods (cars, appliances), nondurable goods (food, clothing), and services (healthcare, housing, finance).
• I (Gross Private Domestic Investment): business fixed investment (equipment, structures, intellectual property); residential investment; change in private inventories.
• G (Government Consumption Expenditures and Gross Investment): federal, state, and local government spending on goods, services, and investment (excludes transfer payments such as Social Security, which are not counted in GDP).
• (X − M) (Net Exports): exports of goods and services minus imports; the U.S. has run persistent trade deficits since the 1970s, making this component a drag on GDP.

GDP vs. GNP vs. GNI: GDP measures production within U.S. borders regardless of the producer's nationality. GNP (Gross National Product) measures production by U.S. residents regardless of location — including profits from U.S.-owned foreign factories. The difference (GNP minus GDP) is the net factor income from abroad. GNI (Gross National Income) is conceptually equivalent to GNP but accounts for differences in measurement approaches; the international norm shifted from GNP to GNI in the 1990s.

Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index

PCE is the Federal Reserve's official inflation target measure — the FOMC's 2% inflation goal is stated as "the rate of inflation as measured by the PCE price index." This is not the same as CPI, and the difference matters:

PCE's lower shelter weight is the primary reason it runs below CPI: the OER (Owners' Equivalent Rent) problem that dominates core CPI is far less significant in PCE. PCE's chain-weighted methodology also adjusts for consumer substitution — if beef prices rise and consumers buy chicken instead, PCE's basket adjusts; CPI's fixed basket does not.

Core PCE (excluding food and energy) is the Fed's focus for setting policy because it strips out volatile components. The Fed explicitly targets headline PCE at 2% over the medium term but watches core PCE as a signal of underlying inflation persistence.

National Income and Product Accounts (NIPAs)

The NIPAs are BEA's comprehensive accounting framework — a set of seven accounts that together describe the full circular flow of economic activity. Beyond GDP, the NIPAs include:

• National Income: total income earned by U.S. residents (compensation of employees + corporate profits + proprietors' income + rental income + net interest + taxes on production); measures the economy from the income side rather than the expenditure side.
• Corporate Profits: a quarterly measure of before-tax profits across the economy; S&P 500 earnings are a subset of this aggregate. One of the key indicators of whether the macro environment supports business investment.
• Personal Savings Rate: personal income minus taxes minus outlays, as a percent of disposable income; a persistent debate exists about whether the U.S. saves enough relative to investment needs and long-run fiscal sustainability.
• Government deficit/surplus: NIPAs treat government consumption and investment differently from the budget deficit — transfer payments appear in NIPAs as personal income to recipients, not as government expenditures.

Input-Output Tables

BEA publishes benchmark input-output accounts approximately every five years (aligned with the economic census) and annual I-O tables with less detail. I-O tables show the interdependence of industries — how the output of one sector becomes the input of another — and are the methodological foundation for economic impact analysis (including the multiplier effects used in every infrastructure bill's economic assessment). The $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (2021) relied on I-O multipliers to estimate its economic effects.

Regional and International Accounts

Regional: BEA publishes GDP by state and metro area (annual, ~11 months after the reference year), personal income by county and metro area (annual), and local area personal income data. These are the authoritative sources for state and local economic performance comparisons and are used in federal grant allocation formulas.

International: BEA is the official source for U.S. balance of payments data (the current account, including the trade deficit; the capital account; the financial account) and the U.S. net international investment position — the difference between U.S.-owned assets abroad and foreign-owned assets in the U.S. The U.S. is the world's largest net international debtor by this measure (~−$23 trillion as of 2024), having accumulated the position through decades of current account deficits.

Comprehensive Revisions

Every five years, BEA undertakes a comprehensive (benchmark) revision that rewrites 50+ years of economic history. These revisions can substantially change our understanding of the economy's trajectory. The 2023 comprehensive revision added research and development and entertainment, literary, and artistic originals as capital investment (intellectual property products), which raised the measured GDP level. Prior revisions added computer software (1999) and government military assets (1996) as investment. Each comprehensive revision can change the peak-to-trough GDP decline of past recessions, affecting historical comparisons.

How It Affects You

If you have a mortgage, retirement account, or variable-rate debt: The Federal Reserve's interest rate decisions — the most direct policy lever affecting your monthly payments — are made in response to BEA's PCE inflation data. When core PCE runs above 2%, the Fed is under pressure to hold rates higher for longer. A sustained 0.5 percentage point difference in core PCE can mean the difference between rate cuts starting in Q1 versus Q3 of a given year, which translates to hundreds of dollars per month in mortgage payment differences on a median home loan. You don't need to read the BEA release yourself — but knowing that the Fed is watching PCE, not CPI, helps you interpret Fed statements correctly.

If you follow economic news: GDP headlines frequently mislead. A quarter of negative GDP driven by inventory drawdown or a trade deficit surge is economically very different from a contraction in consumer spending. When you see a GDP number, check the component breakdown: consumer spending (C) is the economy's engine; if that's growing, the headline number often understates underlying strength. Inventory swings and net exports are the noisiest components — they routinely subtract 0.5–1.5 percentage points from headline GDP in any given quarter. BEA publishes the component breakdown with every advance release at bea.gov.

If you work at a federal agency or do policy analysis: OMB's budget and economic assumptions (published in the President's Budget) are built on BEA national accounts data. CBO's baseline projections use BEA as the source for nominal GDP, from which revenue estimates are derived. Regulatory impact analyses that require economic benefit or cost projections typically use BEA NIPA data as the baseline economic environment. Federal formula grants that use state personal income as an allocation factor — including Medicaid FMAP and certain transportation formulas — rely on BEA regional income data.

If you run a business or track a sector: BEA's GDP-by-industry accounts (value added by sector, published quarterly) are the most comprehensive public measure of sector-level output. BEA's county-level personal income data, published annually, is the best sub-state measure of purchasing power. For trade-exposed businesses, BEA's monthly trade-in-goods release and quarterly balance of payments data define the official U.S. trade deficit — the numbers cited in tariff and trade policy debates.

If you are a journalist or policy analyst: Watch BEA release dates on the NIPA release schedule (published annually at bea.gov). Advance GDP comes ~28 days after quarter end — late April for Q1, late July for Q2, late October for Q3, late January for Q4. The key analytical question every release: Is the PCE deflator (the price index embedded in real GDP) moving up or down? Rising deflators mean higher nominal GDP is partly inflation, not real growth. For inflation coverage, compare the PCE release to the CPI release for the same month — explain the differential and what it signals for the next FOMC meeting.

Independence and Data Integrity Risks

BEA is classified as a principal federal statistical agency under OMB Statistical Policy Directive No. 1, which prohibits political review of data before public release. No White House official, Treasury secretary, or political appointee may see the advance GDP estimate before it is published — a norm that protects the data's market credibility. This independence is institutional, not statutory: unlike the Federal Reserve, BEA has no dedicated legislation immunizing it from political interference; the protection rests on OMB policy and professional norms.

BEA's small size (~500 staff, ~$120M annual budget) makes it more vulnerable to resource-driven degradation than larger agencies. For comparison, the UK's Office for National Statistics — serving an economy roughly one-seventh the size of the U.S. — employs approximately 4,000 people. The DOGE-era budget pressure in 2025 specifically targeted the international accounts team (which produces the monthly trade deficit data used in GDP advance estimates) and threatened publication delays for regional accounts. The Congressional Budget Office and Federal Reserve both flag BEA data quality as a systemic dependency: degraded source data produces noisier GDP estimates, which forces the Fed to make monetary policy decisions with more uncertainty.

What data degradation looks like in practice: When BEA lacks sufficient source data, it relies more heavily on statistical models and extrapolation. The advance GDP estimate already uses ~85% of needed source data; further cuts to data collection could reduce this to 70–75%, widening the gap between advance and final estimates and increasing post-release revisions. For financial markets, large revisions are costly — traders and risk managers price assets based on advance GDP and can be badly wrong if the final number differs by more than a percentage point.

Recent Developments

• 2025 — DOGE budget proposals threatened BEA international accounts and regional accounts staffing; no methodology changes were implemented but publication timelines for some regional data series were extended.
• 2024 — Annual revision (July 2024) revised the personal savings rate upward, indicating households had accumulated more savings during the COVID period than previously measured; revised 2023 GDP growth to 2.9% from 2.5%.
• 2023 — Comprehensive revision rewrote 50+ years of history; GDP level revised upward ~1.5%; 2022 recession fears (two quarters of negative GDP) were retroactively eliminated — the revised data showed positive real GDP throughout.
• 2022 — Two consecutive quarters of negative real GDP growth (Q1: −1.6%, Q2: −0.9%) prompted widespread "technical recession" debate; NBER did not call a recession because the labor market remained strong; BEA became central to political dispute over recession definition.
• 2018 — BEA launched the first annual GDP by county data, expanding the geographic granularity of economic data below the metro area level.

BEA's December 2025 Personal Income and Outlays release (published February 20, 2026) showed the PCE price index rose 0.4 percent from November and 2.9 percent year-over-year; core PCE excluding food and energy also rose 0.4 percent month-over-month and 3.0 percent year-over-year, remaining above the Fed's 2 percent target. The release was delayed from its originally scheduled January 29, 2026 date due to an October–November 2025 government shutdown. The report also noted that the December increase in personal income was partly driven by a utility settlement paid to U.S. households for losses related to the 2023 Maui wildfire. Beginning with the February 2026 estimate (to be released April 9, 2026), BEA announced it will discontinue PDF and Excel news release tables, directing users instead to its online Interactive Data Tables. (BEA, Feb. 20, 2026)

On February 19, 2026, BEA and the U.S. Census Bureau released the U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services report for December and Annual 2025, showing the goods and services deficit widened to $70.3 billion in December, up $17.3 billion from a revised $53.0 billion in November, as exports fell $5.0 billion to $287.3 billion and imports rose $12.3 billion to $357.6 billion. For full-year 2025, the goods and services deficit was $901.5 billion, down slightly ($2.1 billion) from 2024, with the annual goods deficit rising $25.5 billion while the services surplus increased $27.6 billion. The next release date was listed as "to be determined" due to schedule disruptions caused by the 2025 government shutdown. Beginning with the January 2026 release, BEA's Euro Area grouping will add Bulgaria, which adopted the euro effective January 1, 2026. (BEA/Census Bureau, Feb. 19, 2026)

On February 19, 2026, BEA released new annual statistics on real personal consumption expenditures (PCE), real personal income, and regional price parities for all 50 states and the District of Columbia for 2024. Real PCE by state increased in 48 states and D.C., ranging from 5.3 percent in Massachusetts to –0.2 percent in Montana, while national real PCE rose 2.9 percent. Real personal income increased in 46 states and D.C., ranging from 5.5 percent in California to –2.2 percent in North Dakota. The release also announced the discontinuation of metropolitan statistical area estimates for real PCE and real personal income, with those series now published at the state level only. (BEA, Feb. 19, 2026)

On February 5, 2026, BEA released GDP by County and Personal Income by County estimates for 2024, showing real GDP increased in 2,273 counties and decreased in 809, with county-level real GDP ranging from $813.7 billion in New York County, NY, to $15.7 million in Issaquena County, MS. Personal income in current dollars increased in 2,768 counties and decreased in 331. Beginning with the 2024 estimates, BEA discontinued publication of statistics for metropolitan statistical areas, micropolitan statistical areas, and related geographies, consolidating all sub-state economic data at the county level only; Connecticut estimates now use the state's planning region definitions rather than county definitions. BEA also combined what had previously been two separate county-level releases (GDP and personal income) into a single news release for the first time, and removed data tables from the news release itself, directing users to its online Interactive Data Application. (BEA, Feb. 5, 2026)

On January 23, 2026, BEA released GDP by State and Personal Income by State for the third quarter of 2025, showing real GDP increased in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, rising at an annual rate of 4.4 percent nationally and ranging from 6.5 percent in Kansas to 0.4 percent in North Dakota. Information; finance and insurance; and professional, scientific, and technical services were the leading contributors to national growth, while durable-goods manufacturing increased in all 50 states. Personal income also increased in all 50 states and D.C., rising at an annual rate of 3.3 percent nationally. BEA announced that beginning April 9, 2026, it will combine national and state GDP estimates into a single simultaneous release, replacing the current practice of issuing them on separate days. (BEA, Jan. 23, 2026)

On January 16, 2026, BEA released the U.S. International Investment Position for the third quarter of 2025, showing the U.S. net international investment position was –$27.61 trillion, with assets of $41.27 trillion and liabilities of $68.89 trillion; the –$1.46 trillion deterioration from Q2 was driven primarily by U.S. stock price increases that raised the market value of U.S. liabilities more than assets. Beginning in March 2026, BEA will consolidate the quarterly international transactions and international investment position accounts into a single combined news release, replacing two separate releases issued on different days and accelerating availability of the investment position data. As part of the same modernization effort, data tables will be removed from the body of the release and replaced with dynamic links to BEA's Interactive Data Application. (BEA, Jan. 16, 2026)

On January 14, 2026, BEA released U.S. International Transactions data for the third quarter of 2025, showing the current-account deficit narrowed by $22.8 billion (9.2 percent) to $226.4 billion, representing 2.9 percent of current-dollar GDP, down from 3.3 percent in the second quarter. The narrowing reflected a shift in the primary income balance from deficit to surplus, an expanded services surplus, and a reduced goods deficit. Exports of goods and services and income received increased $24.1 billion to $1.30 trillion, while imports and income paid increased $1.3 billion to $1.53 trillion. Beginning March 2026, BEA will consolidate the quarterly international transactions and international investment position accounts into a single combined news release, replacing two separate releases issued on different days. (BEA, Jan. 14, 2026)

On December 5, 2025, BEA released statistics on the Activities of U.S. Affiliates of Foreign Multinational Enterprises for 2023, showing majority-owned U.S. affiliates employed 8.66 million workers (6.2 percent of total private-industry employment), with current-dollar value added rising 6.3 percent to $1.47 trillion and expenditures for property, plant, and equipment increasing 6.3 percent to $322.7 billion. Research and development performed by majority-owned U.S. affiliates increased 1.1 percent to $87.8 billion. Beginning with this release, BEA discontinued inclusion of data tables in the body of the news release, directing users instead to its Interactive Data Application; some supplemental tables were permanently discontinued and archived. The next release covering 2024 activity is scheduled for July 10, 2026. (BEA, Dec. 5, 2025)

On September 16, 2025, BEA released GDP statistics for Puerto Rico for 2023, showing real GDP increased 3.0 percent after decreasing 2.1 percent in 2022, with growth driven primarily by a 6.4 percent rise in real exports — led by pharmaceuticals, organic chemicals, and travel services — alongside increases in personal consumption expenditures, government spending, and private fixed investment. BEA explicitly noted in the release that it will no longer produce Puerto Rico GDP statistics after this release of 2023 estimates, with previously published data to be archived. This discontinuation marks a significant reduction in BEA's territorial economic coverage. (BEA, Sept. 16, 2025)

On August 22, 2025, BEA released statistics on the Activities of U.S. Multinational Enterprises for 2023, showing worldwide employment by U.S. MNEs decreased 0.4 percent to 43.9 million workers, with U.S. parents accounting for 21.9 percent of total U.S. private-industry employment, down from 22.5 percent in 2022. Worldwide current-dollar value added of U.S. MNEs decreased 0.6 percent to $6.9 trillion, while worldwide R&D expenditures increased 7.5 percent to $558.3 billion and worldwide expenditures for property, plant, and equipment also increased 7.5 percent to $1.1 trillion. Employment abroad by majority-owned foreign affiliates was largest in India, Mexico, and the United Kingdom, while value added by foreign affiliates was largest in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Ireland. Beginning with this release, BEA discontinued inclusion of data tables in the body of the news release, directing users to its Interactive Data Application; the next release covering 2024 activity is scheduled for November 2026. (BEA, Aug. 22, 2025)

On July 22, 2025, BEA released Direct Investment by Country and Industry statistics for 2024, showing the U.S. direct investment abroad position increased $206.3 billion to $6.83 trillion, led by gains in Europe (primarily Luxembourg and Germany) and manufacturing affiliates. The foreign direct investment in the United States position increased $332.1 billion to $5.71 trillion, with Japan ($754.1 billion by country of foreign parent), the United Kingdom, Canada, and the Netherlands accounting for more than half the total; U.S. manufacturing attracted the largest share at 42.3 percent of the inbound position. U.S. MNEs earned $601.9 billion in income abroad in 2024, a 3.8 percent increase from 2023, while foreign MNEs earned $310.9 billion on their U.S. investments, a 13.1 percent increase. Beginning with this release, BEA discontinued inclusion of data tables in the body of the news release, directing users to its Interactive Data Application, and discontinued two dividend detail tables that had appeared in prior releases. (BEA, July 22, 2025)

On July 11, 2025, BEA released preliminary statistics on New Foreign Direct Investment in the United States for 2024, showing total expenditures by foreign direct investors to acquire, establish, or expand U.S. businesses fell $24.9 billion (14.2 percent) to $151.0 billion, well below the 2014–2023 annual average of $277.2 billion. Manufacturing was the largest destination sector at $67.7 billion (44.9 percent of total), with chemical manufacturing leading within that sector at $23.7 billion; Ireland ($30.1 billion) and Canada ($23.9 billion) were the top investing countries, and Texas ($22.8 billion) received the most investment by state. Greenfield expenditures—to establish or expand foreign-owned U.S. businesses—totaled $8.1 billion, with professional, scientific, and technical services the largest greenfield sector. Beginning with this release, BEA discontinued inclusion of data tables in the body of the news release, directing users to its Interactive Data Application, and archived previously published tables on sales, net income, and balance sheets of new affiliates. (BEA, July 11, 2025)

On April 2, 2025, BEA released the Arts and Cultural Production Satellite Account for 2023, showing that real arts and cultural economic activity increased 6.6 percent, outpacing overall real GDP growth of 2.9 percent for the same year. Arts and cultural activity accounted for 4.2 percent of GDP, or $1.17 trillion in nominal terms, with total arts and cultural employment reaching 5.4 million jobs nationwide. State-level value added increased in 47 states and D.C., ranging from 14.7 percent growth in Nevada to a 3.4 percent decline in Louisiana. The account is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, with the next release covering 2024 data scheduled for March 2026. (BEA, Apr. 2, 2025)

On November 21, 2024, BEA released GDP statistics for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) for 2021 and 2022, showing real GDP increased 5.1 percent in 2021 and 16.7 percent in 2022 after a 29.1 percent decline in 2020; the 2022 rebound was driven primarily by a 324.9 percent surge in exports as visitor arrivals rose 656.4 percent following COVID-era collapse. The release also disclosed that the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) of the U.S. Department of the Interior has paused funding for CNMI GDP statistics to conduct an exploratory assessment of territorial source data, causing BEA to suspend future production of CNMI GDP estimates until funding and improved data sources become available. This follows BEA's September 2025 announcement that it would discontinue Puerto Rico GDP statistics after the 2023 release, representing a broader reduction in BEA's territorial economic coverage. Archived CNMI GDP statistics will remain available on BEA's website. (BEA, Nov. 21, 2024)

On November 20, 2024, BEA released the Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account for the U.S. and all 50 states for 2023, showing that outdoor recreation value added accounted for 2.3 percent ($639.5 billion) of current-dollar GDP, with real outdoor recreation GDP growing 3.6 percent — outpacing overall U.S. real GDP growth of 2.9 percent. Outdoor recreation employment increased in 49 states and D.C., ranging from 7.5 percent growth in Alaska to –4.8 percent in Indiana, while compensation rose 9.0 percent nationally. At the state level, outdoor recreation's share of state GDP ranged from 6.3 percent in Hawaii to 1.6 percent in Delaware, Connecticut, and New York. (BEA, Nov. 20, 2024)

On June 17, 2024, BEA released GDP statistics for the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) for 2022, showing real GDP decreased 1.3 percent after increasing 3.7 percent in 2021, with declines driven by falling exports of crude oil and petroleum products, reduced private fixed investment, lower government spending, and a decrease in personal consumption expenditures. The release also disclosed that the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) of the U.S. Department of the Interior has paused funding for USVI GDP statistics to conduct an exploratory assessment of territorial source data, causing BEA to suspend future production of USVI GDP estimates until funding and improved data sources become available. This follows similar funding pauses affecting CNMI GDP statistics and BEA's September 2025 announcement that it would discontinue Puerto Rico GDP statistics after the 2023 release, representing a broader reduction in BEA's territorial economic coverage. Archived USVI GDP statistics will remain available on BEA's website. (BEA, June 17, 2024)

On April 15, 2024, BEA released GDP statistics for Guam for 2022, showing real GDP increased 5.1 percent after increasing 2.1 percent in 2021, driven by a 150.4 percent surge in exports of goods and services — primarily visitor spending, with arrivals up more than 300 percent — alongside gains in private fixed investment, government spending, and personal consumption expenditures. The release also disclosed that the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) of the U.S. Department of the Interior has paused funding for Guam GDP statistics to conduct an exploratory assessment of territorial source data, causing BEA to suspend future production of Guam GDP estimates until funding and improved data sources become available. This follows similar funding pauses affecting CNMI and USVI GDP statistics and BEA's September 2025 announcement discontinuing Puerto Rico GDP statistics after the 2023 release, representing a broader reduction in BEA's territorial economic coverage. Archived Guam GDP statistics will remain available on BEA's website. (BEA, Apr. 15, 2024)

On October 20, 2023, BEA released GDP statistics for American Samoa for 2022, showing real GDP increased 1.8 percent after decreasing 0.8 percent in 2021. Growth was driven by a 5.0 percent rise in government spending—supported by federal COVID-relief grants including CARES Act and American Rescue Plan funds—and a 3.0 percent increase in exports, primarily canned tuna shipments; personal consumption expenditures fell 7.8 percent and private fixed investment declined 38.4 percent. The statistics were developed under the Statistical Improvement Program funded by the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) of the U.S. Department of the Interior, which also funds territorial GDP programs for CNMI, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands—programs that have since faced funding pauses or discontinuation. (BEA, Oct. 20, 2023)

On March 25, 2026, BEA released the combined U.S. International Transactions and Investment Position report for the fourth quarter and full year 2025, the first release issued under BEA's new consolidated format merging what had previously been two separate releases. The current-account deficit narrowed by $48.4 billion (20.2 percent) to $190.7 billion in Q4 2025, representing 2.4 percent of current-dollar GDP, down from a revised 3.1 percent in Q3 2025. The U.S. net international investment position stood at –$27.54 trillion at end of Q4 2025, with assets of $42.96 trillion and liabilities of $70.49 trillion, roughly unchanged from the revised –$27.55 trillion at end of Q3 2025. (BEA, Mar. 25, 2026)