US Space Economy Statistics Revised by BEA
The US Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has released revised US Space Economy Statistics for 2012–2021.
The revised US Space Economy statistics build on previous estimates that were released in January 2022 by incorporating new source data and improved methods. These space economy statistics provide estimates of the space economy's contribution to U.S. current-dollar and chained-dollar (“real”) gross output and gross domestic product (GDP) by industry, as well as estimates of private employment and compensation. The updated and revised statistics show that, in 2021, the U.S. space economy accounted for $211.6 billion of gross output, $129.9 billion (0.6 percent) of GDP, $51.1 billion of private industry compensation, and 360,000 private industry jobs.
The U.S. space economy statistics are built using BEA's comprehensive supply and use tables (SUTs) and National Income and Product Accounts (NIPAs), which provide insight into the internal workings of the U.S. economy and detail the contribution of specific industries and products to GDP. The SUTs measure the flows of goods and services purchased by each industry, the incomes earned from production in each industry, and the distribution of sales for each product. The NIPA data present the value and composition of U.S. GDP, the types of incomes generated in its production, and its associated employment. The goal of the space economy statistics is to highlight the space-related production and spending that are already present in the SUTs and NIPAs. In practice, these statistics represent a rearrangement of existing data to isolate spending and production for the space economy.
Industry gross output represents the market value of the goods and services produced by an industry and is similar in concept to revenue. In 2021, manufacturing overtook information as the largest industry in the space economy.
Manufacturing experienced its strongest two years of growth in real gross output over the 2012–2021 period in 2019 (9.5 percent) and 2021 (5.8 percent). Both major space-related manufacturing industries, computer and electronic products and other transportation equipment, increased in 2019 and 2021. The computer and electronic products manufacturing industry increased 10.6 percent in 2019 and 5.7 percent in 2021, much faster than the overall space economy.
Other US Space Economy Findings
Government real gross output also increased in 2019 and 2021 (9.3 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively). Unlike most industries in the space economy, government did not decrease in 2020 and instead increased 0.6 percent.
Two of the largest industries in the space economy, information and wholesale trade, contracted throughout 2019–2021, dragging down growth in the overall space economy for those years.
Private industry employment for the space economy was 360,000 in 2021, and compensation was $51.1 billion. Manufacturing accounted for 35 percent of total private employment but 45 percent of compensation due to its relatively high average compensation level ($182,762). Information was the next-largest industry in terms of private employment and compensation in 2021, representing 23 percent of employment and 18 percent of compensation.
BEA continues to expand and improve upon the space economy estimates with the intention of developing a time series of estimates with full industry detail aligning with BEA's other statistical releases. Additionally, research is underway to estimate space economic activity by categories that are more salient to space community users, such as launch and R&D, to provide an additional layer of understanding about the U.S. space economy.
(Source: BEA Report. Infographic provided. Images from file)