United States

United States: strong, sustained growth, 1980–2025

The world's largest economy for the whole period, it shifted decisively from manufacturing toward services and finance, and rode successive waves of computing, internet, and AI-driven productivity growth. Between 1980 and 2025, United States's GDP per capita grew from $12,575 to $90,027 (current US$), a compound annual growth rate of 4.5% — strong, sustained growth. Annual GDP growth averaged 2.6% with a year-to-year standard deviation of 1.9 points, reflecting relatively stable macroeconomic conditions. Structurally, agriculture's share of the economy moved from 1.3% to 0.9% of GDP (a classic decline as the economy industrialized/modernized), while services rose from 71.8% to 76.3% of GDP, underscoring a shift toward a services-driven economy. On human development, life expectancy rose from 73.6 to 78.9 years, while tertiary school enrollment moved from 52.9% to 79.4%, while the urban population share grew from 73.8% to 80.2%.

What this growth cost: Growth was not without cost: per-capita CO2 emissions fell from 21.04 to 13.62 tonnes CO2e per person; income inequality (Gini index) widened from 34.7 to 41.8; the poverty headcount ratio increased from 0.6% to 1.1%.