Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country during a given time period. There are two ways to measure GDP:

• Nominal GDP is the dollar value of production at current-year prices. For example, nominal GDP in 1990, $5,803 billion, is calculated using year 1990 prices for goods and services.
• Real GDP is the dollar value of production using a given base year prices. For example, real GDP in 1990, $7,112 billion in year 2000 dollars, is calculated using 2000 prices for goods and services.

The GDP Deflator measures changes in the overall level of prices for the goods and services that make up GDP. It is simply the ratio of nominal to real GDP times 100. Thus the value for 2000 is 100.

GDP per capita is calculated by dividing either nominal or real GDP for a given year by the population in that year. These numbers can be thought of as the average share of output per person. The nominal GDP per capita in 1870 was $195, while in 2006 was $44,070; the real GDP per capita for those same years was $2,509 and $37,807.

Some of these data have been constructed by the authors. It is our belief that the numbers we present before 1929 are accurate at most to two significant digits. It is recommended that users consult the source note before using them for economic analysis. These data are always subject to change, particularly for the years before 1909. We do not expect to make any revisions soon.

The data from 1790 to 1868 are for census years, and from 1869 on for calendar years. See the source note for an explination.

These six values can be determined for any year, or range of years, between 1790 and 2006.