North Dakota's Economic Growth Outpaces All Other States for Fourth Consecutive Year

Press Release

For the past four years, North Dakota's economy has continued to outpace all other states, according to information released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Factors driving the state's robust economy include continued growth in economic production, new jobs and rising wages.

North Dakota's gross domestic product (GDP), a measure of total economic production, increased 9.7 percent last year to top economic growth among all states for the fourth straight year. Mineral resources, including oil and gas extraction and coal mining, contributed 3.6 percent to North Dakota's GDP growth.

"It's very encouraging that our continued economic growth stems from nearly every business sector and that no single industry tells the whole story of the great progress we're making," Gov. Jack Dalrymple said. "Moving forward, we will continue to support economic growth through low taxes, a sensible and effective regulatory environment and a state government that is responsive to the needs of its people and businesses."

In 2013, North Dakota's economy produced a record $49.8 billion. In the past four years, North Dakota's economy has averaged an annual growth rate of about 12 percent compared to the national economy's growth rate of 2 percent.

Wyoming produced the nation's second strongest state economy in 2013, with a growth rate of 7.6 percent. The nation's GDP growth rate slowed to 1.8 percent last year, after increasing 2.5 percent in 2012, the BEA reports.

North Dakota's continued economic growth is reflected in many areas of commerce including manufacturing, agriculture, the energy industry, construction, transportation, wholesale trade, retail trade and the finance and insurance sectors. The BEA report can be viewed at http://www.bea.gov.

Other statistics that detail the state's economic progress include:

North Dakota has created 116,600 net jobs since 2000.

North Dakota's per-capita personal income of $57,084 represents the strongest income growth in the nation. In 2000, North Dakota's per-capital personal income ranked 38th in the nation. Today, North Dakota's personal income ranks second among all states.

The state continues to have the nation's lowest unemployment rate, at just 2.6 percent.

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