This Survey is published on the responsibility of the Economic and Development Review Committee of the OECD, which is charged with the examination of the economic situation of member countries.

The economic situation and policies of the United States were reviewed by the Committee on 19 May 2016. The draft report was then revised in the light of the discussions and given final approval as the agreed report of the whole Committee on 2nd June 2016.

The Secretariat’s draft report was prepared for the Committee by Douglas Sutherland and Jonathan Millar, under the supervision of Patrick Lenain. Statistical research was provided by Damien Azzopardi and Mabel Gabriel with general administrative support provided by Raquel Páramo. The previous Survey of the United States was issued in June 2014.

Information about the latest as well as previous Surveys and more information about how Surveys are prepared is available at www.oecd.org/eco/surveys.

  
Basic Statistics of United States, 2015 or latest year available
(Numbers in parentheses refer to the OECD average)*

LAND, PEOPLE AND ELECTORAL CYCLE

Population (million)

318.9

 

Population density per km²

34.8

(36.8)

Under 15 (%)

19.2

(18.3)

Life expectancy (years)

78.8

(80.5)

Over 65 (%)

12.6

(13.6)

Men

76.4

(77.8)

Foreign-born (%)

13.1

 

Women

81.2

(83.1)

Latest 5-year average growth (%)

0.8

(0.5)

Latest general election

Nov. 2012 

ECONOMY

Gross domestic product (GDP)

 

 

Value added shares (%)

 

 

In current prices (billion USD)

17 947

Primary sector

1.3

(2.5)

Latest 5-year average real growth (%)

2.0

(1.7)

Industry including construction

20.7

(26.4)

Per capita (000 USD PPP)

54.4

(39.2)

Services

78.0

(71.1)

GENERAL GOVERNMENT

Per cent of GDP

Expenditure

37.8

(42.3)

Gross financial debt

113.6

(118.7)

Revenue

33.5

(38.5)

Net financial debt

88.5

(76.0)

EXTERNAL ACCOUNTS

Exchange rate EUR per USD

0.90

 

Main exports (% of total merchandise exports)

  

PPP exchange rate (USA = 1)

1.00

 

Machinery and transport equipment

34.1

In per cent of GDP

 

 

Chemicals and related products, n.e.s.

13.1

Exports of goods and services

12.6

(28.8)

Commodities and transactions, n.e.s.

11.0

Imports of goods and services

15.5

(28.6)

Main imports (% of total merchandise imports)

 

Current account balance

-2.70

(0.1)

Machinery and transport equipment

39.7

Net international investment position

-40.5

 

Miscellaneous manufactured articles

15.0

 

Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials

14.8

LABOUR MARKET, SKILLS AND INNOVATION

Employment rate for 15-64 year-olds (%)

68.7

(66.2)

Unemployment rate, Labour Force Survey (age 15 and over) (%)

5.3

(6.8)

Men

74.2

(74.1)

Youth (age 15-24, %)

13.4

(15.0)

Women

63.4

(58.5)

Long-term unemployed (1 year and over, %)

1.4

(2.5)

Participation rate for 15-64 year-olds (%)

72.7

(71.2)

Tertiary educational attainment 25-64 year-olds (%)

44.2

(33.6)

Average hours worked per year

1 789

(1770)

Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (% of GDP)

2.7

(2.4)

ENVIRONMENT

Total primary energy supply per capita (toe)

6.9

(4.1)

CO2 emissions from fuel combustion per capita (tonnes)

16.2

(9.5)

Renewables (%)

6.5

(9.2)

Water abstractions per capita (m3)

1582

(819)

Fine particulate matter concentration (PM2.5, μg/m3)

10.7

(14.0)

Municipal waste per capita (kilogrammes)

725

(516)

SOCIETY

Income inequality (Gini coefficient)

0.401

(0.308)

Education outcomes (PISA score, 2012)

 

 

Relative poverty rate (%)

17.6

(11.2)

Reading

498

(496)

Ratio of incomes of the top 10% vs. Bottom 10%

18.8

(9.6)

Mathematics

481

(494)

Public and private spending (% of GDP)

 

Science

497

(501)

Health care, current expenditure

16.4

(8.9)

Share of women in parliament (%)

19.4

(28.6)

Pensions

6.8

(8.7)

Net official development assistance (% of GNI)

0.2

(0.4)

Education (primary, secondary, post sec. non tertiary)

3.6

(3.7)

 

 

 

Better life index: www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org

* Where the OECD aggregate is not provided in the source database, a simple OECD average of latest available data is calculated where data exist for at least 29 member countries.

Source: Calculations based on data extracted from the databases of the following organisations: OECD, International Energy Agency, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Inter-Parliamentary Union.