MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The economy of the United States is massive and Americans often take that fact for granted. But to put the size of it into perspective, researchers at howmuch.net compared the economies of the 50 states to entire countries.
Howmuch used national GDP data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and state data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) to create the map above that displays a country of comparable size (in terms of GDP) for each US state. All of the countries shown have 2014 GDPs that are roughly equivalent (+/- 10%) to the GDP of the state on which it is shown.
The economy of Alabama is closest to that of Romania in terms of overall Gross-Domestic Product (GDP). While Romania’s GDP is 0.26% larger than Alabama’s, the Yellowhammer state has a bigger overall advantage over the small Eastern-European nation.
Alabama’s GDP per Capita is more than four times Romania’s and outpaces several other notable European nations. While the United Kingdom has a total GDP that dwarfs that of the Heart of Dixie, the UK’s GDP per capita is only about $500 higher.
Not too bad. Not too bad at all.
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