Looking for a breakdown of the US GDP and GNP by sector.  For example, one item
I want to lookup is the percent of GDP spent on healthcare (both
private and public spending).

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Clarification of Question by achappel-ga on 18 Nov 2005 14:28 PST

I am looking for a reference to this information, not just the information itself

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 18 Nov 2005 18:26 PST

In the US, the GDP is the statistic of choice these days, and has
largely replaced GNP.

Do you really want both GDP *and* GNP?  If so, I think it unlikely
that anyone can find an answer for you.

pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by achappel-ga on 18 Nov 2005 22:40 PST

Thanks for your input.  I wasn't sure which measure is in vogue these
days.  Hence, GDP is sufficient.

achappel-ga,


Here is, perhaps, more information than you really wanted on GDP for the US:



http://www.bea.gov/bea/newsrel/gdpnewsrelease.htm



This is the latest published release of GDP from October 28,2005, as
provided by the official keeper of the numbers, the Bureau of Economic
Analysis.

Most of the information here focuses on changes in GDP from prior
reports, but Table 3 in the release provides the actual GDP in
dollars:



Table 3.--Gross Domestic Product and Related Measures: Level and
Change From Preceding Period


You can see from the left-hand-most column of data, that for 2004, the
Gross domestic product for the US as a whole was $11,734.3 billion
($11.7343 trillion), and the contribution from "Medical care" was
$1,401.1 billion, or:

1,401.1 / 11,734.3= 11.94%


In other words, medical care accounts for almost 12% of the US GDP.


Oddly, it's hard to find a simple illustration of the composition of
the GDP by sectors.  The closest I came was this one:


http://nationalatlas.gov/transportation.html


which shows the equivalent data for the year 2000 in graph form.


I trust this is what you were looking for.

However, please don't rate this answer until you have everything you
need.  If there's anything else I can do for you, just post a Request
for Clarification to let me know, and I'm at your service.

All the best,

pafalafa-ga


search strategy -- searched Google and Google images for [gdp] and
[gdp (composition OR sectors)]

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Request for Answer Clarification by achappel-ga on 19 Nov 2005 12:39 PST

I notice that the medical care component is listed under "Personal
consumption expenditures."  However, there is also a section for
"Government consumption expenditures."  Do you know if the medical
care component listed under "Personal consumption expenditures"
includes government healthcare expeditures for Medicare, Medicaid, and
the VA healthcare system?

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Clarification of Answer by pafalafa-ga on 19 Nov 2005 14:59 PST

It's a good, sensible question, but the answer's hard to pin down,
because there are just too many ways of counting up national
expenditures to know which ones correspond with GDP calculations.

But I can get you close.


This site from the US General Accounting Office:


http://www.gao.gov/cghome/fisimb/img13.html


shows that Medicare/Medicaid expenses in 2003 accounted for about 4-5% of GDP.


That's a pretty sizable chunk.


But it's hard to reconcile that number with the detailed figures shown
on this table:



http://www.cms.hhs.gov/statistics/nhe/projections-2003/t2.asp
National Health Expenditure Amounts and Average Annual Percent Change
by Type of Expenditure


which breaks out private and public spending for health care.  For
2004, the table indicates total health care spending of $1.793
trillion, which is almost $400 billion larger than the GDP figure for
"Medical care" that I provided earlier.


The same table also puts the government part of these expenses at
about $200 billion ("Government Administration and Net Cost of Private
Health Insurance" + "Government Public Health Activities").  Though,
again, I'm just not sure how to reconcile these figures with the
totals provided for different categories of the GDP.


Look them over, and perhaps they will shed some light on your
question.  If you'd still like any additional information on this
topic, just let me know, and I'm at your service.


pafalafa-ga

Answered what I was looking for and then some.