Real gross domestic product under Ronald Reagan

The total output of the U.S. economy, with inflation taken out — the broadest single measure of economic activity.

Over 1981-01-20 to 1989-01-19, measured in Billions of Chained 2017 Dollars:

Term average

8,398.92 Billions of Chained 2017 Dollars

At the start

7,403.75 Billions of Chained 2017 Dollars

At the end

9,771.73 Billions of Chained 2017 Dollars

Change

+2,367.98 Billions of Chained 2017 Dollars

Low

7,295.63 Billions of Chained 2017 Dollars (1982-01-01)

High

9,771.73 Billions of Chained 2017 Dollars (1989-01-01)

Coverage

100% (32 observations)

Reading this series over a presidential term

A level that rises with population and productivity, so compare terms by annualized percent change rather than by average level. Quarterly data gives a four-year term about sixteen points.

GDP counts production that passes through a market. It says nothing about who receives the income, does not count unpaid household or volunteer work, treats spending to repair damage as output, and is revised for years — first the monthly vintages, then annual updates, then comprehensive revisions that can reshape a whole decade.

These are the observed values over the window above, and nothing more. This site does not say which direction is better, and none of this is a claim that Ronald Reagan caused the number to move.

What Real gross domestic product measures · Ronald Reagan: the whole record · Chart it · Compare with another president · The source at FRED