U.S. Still the World's Largest Manufacturer

The chart above shows manufacturing output of selected countries and the BRIC countries, as a share of world manufacturing output in 2007, using United Nations data via the BLS (I haven't been able yet to find comparable data for 2008). It's interesting that U.S. factories produced almost twice as much output in 2007 as China, and the U.S. produced an amount equivalent to the total manufacturing output of the four BRIC countries combined (Brazil, Russia, India and China).

As a Cato Study concluded in 2007, "Reports of the death of U.S. manufacturing have been greatly exaggerated."

And as David Brooks wrote in 2008, "Instead of fleeing to Asia, U.S. manufacturing output is up over recent decades. As Thomas Duesterberg of Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI, a research firm, has pointed out, the U.S.’s share of global manufacturing output has actually increased slightly since 1980."

According to the Federal Reserve data, the U.S. produced almost $3 trillion of industrial output in 2008, measured in 2000 dollars (or about $3.7 trillion in 2008 dollars). In other words, if the U.S. manufacturing sector had been counted as a separate country, it would have been tied with Germany as the world's fourth largest economy, behind the U.S. (non-manufacturing), Japan, and China, and ahead of the entire economies of France, U.K., Italy and Russia (data here).

Bottom Line: The U.S. is still the world's largest manufacturer.

Comments

[PG13_Funnys]

Are You Nuts ! ?
"According to the Federal Reserve data" {= LMAO}
[ ALLOW US-a to Audit them ! and the others ! ]
Who do U work for ? ? ?
21 days until Voters have THEIR last chance !
GR.IP ! Get Rid of Incumbent Politicians.
WATCH OUT ! Suckers Stock Rally will fail after Elections

2009 Oct 12 09:57 AM

[Dave Wrixon]

Well, for a start you are quoting data that is nearly 3 years out of date.

Secondly a lot of US manufacture is bought by the US Government at grossly inflated prices using borrowed money. Defense is a prime example of this.

Valuations also reflect that the dollar is grossly over-valued and therefore give a totally false picture.

Also it is important to know where you are going rather than where you have been so the figures you should be looking at are those of Capital investment. Trends are also important. What is the likelihood that global share is higher in 2009 than it was in 2007?

Also per capita comparisons are much more meaningful than gross figures.

Is this analysis or just propaganda?

2009 Oct 12 01:05 PM

[Duude]

Are we sure the $3 trillion in manufacturing output wasn't just $3 trillion in new dollar bills?

2009 Oct 12 02:38 PM

[JAMES CARLINI]

Funny - I came to this page because of the title and topic- now the chart is gone. Now you refer to the chart above and it is a blank white space. That must be the symbol for wishful thinking.

I would like to see the chart if it is possible to put up again.

2009 Oct 12 05:20 PM

[Vuke]

Dave Wrixon makes some very good points. It's also useful to consider that every imported toy that gets boxed, every chicken packaged and so on is added to the figures at somewhat inflated prices. Every domestic transaction is logged and recorded officially.

Consider the hundreds of millions in China and India that manufacture locally,sell for cash and never disclose figures. Add them to their country official results and there would be far different figures emerging.

Burying heads in the sand and skewing figures works for awhile but never forever.

2009 Oct 12 10:49 PM

[punk_ash]

Its bad, but its not all that bad. We still are the biggest producer of food. We still have the largest store of water and a ton of resources and lots of usable land.

What we need is to get people away from computer screens and acting to real work. That will not happen.

2009 Oct 13 03:41 AM