MO GDP rises 3.7% in 2012

Missouri’s gross domestic product climbed to $258.8 billion in 2012, an increase of 3.7 percent, according to advanced data estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The movement nearly keeps pace with U.S. GDP, which rose 4 percent from 2011 to 2012. A total of 49 states and the District of Columbia tracked a real GDP increase last year, according to the estimates.

In 2012, Missouri ranked No. 22 in GDP in the U.S. Compared to its bordering neighbors, only Illinois and Tennessee have larger economies, ranking No. 5 and No. 18, respectively. California has the largest GDP, valued at just more than $2 trillion last year.

In Missouri, manufacturing and government sectors represented 12.5 percent of the state’s GDP, the largest contributions of any sectors. Real estate, rental and leasing made up 10.3 percent of GDP, according to the data, while and health care and social services were shown to comprise 9 percent of the economy. In total, private industry represented 87.5 percent of GDP.

The increase in the state’s GDP is the largest since 2007, when the economy grew by 4.1 percent compared to 2006. After growth of 3.6 percent in 2008, the GDP fell 1.5 percent in 2009, then rebounding by 2.6 percent and 2.3 percent in 2010 and 2011, respectively.