US BEA Releases Revised Space Economy Statistics
Covers the Period from 2012-2023
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released new and updated U.S. space economy statistics for 2012–2023 on March 31, 2025. These statistics provide estimates of the U.S. space economy's gross domestic product (GDP) and gross output by industry in current and chained (or “real”) dollars, as well as by-industry estimates of private employment and compensation. The space economy accounted for $142.5 billion, or 0.5 percent, of total U.S. GDP in 2023.
Real GDP grew by 0.6 percent in the space economy, reflecting the second consecutive year of positive real growth. The statistics also show the space economy accounted for $240.9 billion of gross output in 2023 and $57.9 billion of private-sector compensation and supported 373,000 private-sector jobs. The new 2023 statistics and revised 2012–2022 statistics build on previous estimates released in June 2024, by incorporating new source data, most notably the results of BEA's 2023 comprehensive update of the National Economic Accounts (which updated the space economy estimates for 2012–2016) as well as BEA's 2024 annual update of the National Economic Accounts (which updated the estimates for 2017–2022).
According to the document, the space economy’s current-dollar annual growth in 2023 for GDP and gross output outpaced the average annual current-dollar growth over the 2012–2023 period. However, rising prices had a significant impact on the space economy, especially in recent years. While current-dollar growth in GDP was 6.3 percent in 2023, real growth was only 0.6 percent, primarily reflecting the impact of inflation on current-dollar estimates.
In 2023, real GDP in the space economy grew by 0.6 percent, propelled by growth in all categories of government (7.9 percent), most notably federal national defense (12.7 percent). Both the federal national defense industry and the federal nondefense industry engage heavily in research and development (R&D) activities, which drove these results. While there are many government agencies involved in space activities, the majority are attributable to the federal government, chiefly NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and the U.S. Space Force. GDP for the government industry represents spending on federal, state, and local government employee compensation plus consumption of fixed capital.
Real GDP growth in the space economy was partly offset by declines in the information (−4.0 percent) and wholesale trade (−5.2 percent) sectors. Within the information sector, declines were driven by the broadcasting and telecommunications industry (−4.6 percent), led by direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television, which has experienced a decline in revenue and subscribers since 2017. This industry also includes satellite internet connections, which, by contrast, have increased over the time series, according to Federal Communications Commission data. The wholesale trade industry’s activity in the space economy consists of the margins, or markups, charged by wholesale distributors for space-related items, such as Global Positioning System (GPS) transceivers and antennae.
While real gross output in the space economy declined by 0.6 percent in 2023, several sectors did contribute positively, including government (4.7 percent) and manufacturing (2.9 percent). As was the case with real GDP, federal national defense saw strong growth in 2023 (13.4 percent). Manufacturing activity in the space economy includes, among others, the production of space vehicles, such as complete spacecrafts, rockets, and satellites. The wholesale trade (−6.3 percent) and information (−4.7 percent) sectors represent the largest declines in real gross output for the space economy in 2023. Current-dollar output in 2023, however, grew 2.7 percent for the space economy, further highlighting the effects of inflation.
The comprehensive update of BEA’s industry statistics occurred in two phases. The first phase covered the years 2017–2022, and the second phase covered years 2016 and earlier. The release of space economy statistics described in this article covers both phases of the comprehensive update, with updated data for 2012–2022 as well as new estimates for 2023, marking the longest time series to date for BEA’s space economy data.
In March 2024, BEA held a first-of-its-kind workshop that brought together dozens of experts from across various U.S. government agencies, private industry, academia, and international organizations for in-depth deliberations and discussion on the measurement of the space economy. This included experts from OECD, NASA, the U.S. Space Force, the Canadian Space Agency, the National Space Council, and many private-industry organizations. Two main takeaways from that workshop were that users want more timely space economy estimates, and they want state-level estimates. To address these concerns, this release accelerates publication of the space economy estimates by 3 months, and BEA continues to evaluate the requirements of producing state-level estimates. BEA will continue to actively engage with data users and incorporate their feedback into future releases.
We hope to talk with BEA Senior Research Scientist Dr. Tina Highfill on an upcoming edition of The Ex Terra Podcast.