Digital Economy
BEA is developing tools to better capture the effects of fast-changing technologies on the U.S. economy and on global supply chains. The project seeks to calculate the digital economy's contribution to U.S. GDP, improve measures of high-tech goods and services, and offer a more complete picture of international trade. Other goals are to advance research for digital goods and services, the sharing economy, and free digital content.
- Current release: December 6, 2023
Digital Economy Satellite Account
BEA includes in its definition of the digital economy four major types of goods and services:
- Infrastructure, or the basic physical materials and organizational arrangements that support the existence and use of computer networks and the digital economy, primarily information and communications technology (ICT) goods and services.
- E-commerce, or the remote sale of goods and services over computer networks.
- Priced digital services, or services related to computing and communication that are performed for a fee charged to the consumer.
- Federal nondefense digital services represents the annual budget for federal nondefense government agencies whose services are directly related to supporting the digital economy.
BEA is continuing to explore data and methodology to expand the coverage of the digital economy estimates. For more information on the goods and service currently included in the BEA estimates, please see the latest article "U.S. Digital Economy: New and Revised Estimates, 2017–2022."
Please email all comments to DigitalEconomy@bea.gov
- U.S. Digital Economy: New and Revised Estimates, 2017–2022
Survey of Current Business, December 6, 2023 - Data | 2017–2022 XLSX
- Infographic | How Big Is the Digital Economy in 2022 PDF and image PNG
- Introducing Consumer Durable Digital Services into the BEA Digital Economy Satellite Account by Benjamin Bridgman, Tina Highfill, and Jon Samuels | June 2023
- Measuring Digital Intermediation Services: Experimental Estimates of Gross Output for Rideshare, Travel Services, and Food/Grocery Delivery Service Platforms by Tina Highfill and Brian Quistorff | October 2023
- Research Spotlight Measuring the Digital Economy Survey of Current Business, May 2019
- How do the initial digital economy measures compare with industry economic impact reports and BEA satellite accounts?
- Can the initial digital economy estimates show how much the digital economy contributed to the overall economy as a percent of GDP?
- What is gross output by industry and how does it differ from gross domestic product (or value added) by industry?
- What is a satellite account?
- How is the digital economy captured in the core statistics currently produced by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)?
- How does BEA define the digital economy?
- What is missing from the digital economy estimates?
- How are free social media, email, and other ad-supported Internet services included in the BEA digital economy estimates?
- New and Revised Statistics of the U.S. Digital Economy, 2005–2021 PDF
- Data | 2005–2021 XLSX
- Infographic | How Big Is the Digital Economy in 2021 PDF and image PNG
- New and Updated Digital Economy Statistics—May 2022 PDF
- Data | 2005–2020 XLSX
- Infographic | How Big Is the Digital Economy in 2020 PDF and image PNG
- Updated Digital Economy Estimates – June 2021 PDF
- Data | 2005–2019 XLSX
- Infographic | How Big Is the Digital Economy in 2019 PDF and image PNG
- New Digital Economy Estimates—August 2020 PDF
- Data | 2005–2018 XLSX
- Infographic | How Big Is the Digital Economy in 2018 PDF and image PNG
- An Update Incorporating Data from the 2018 Comprehensive Update of the Industry Economic Accounts—April 2019 PDF
- Data | 1997–2017 XLSX
- Defining and Measuring the Digital Economy BEA Working Paper, March 2018
- Data | 2005–2016 XLSX
- Infographic | How Big is the Digital Economy in 2017 PDF and image PNG
International Trade in ICT and Potentially ICT-Enabled Services
BEA's statistics on trade in information and communications technology (ICT) and potentially ICT-enabled services complement its standard presentation of international trade in services statistics by examining the extent to which ICT may be used to facilitate trade in services. ICT services are those used to facilitate information processing and communication; potentially ICT-enabled services are services that can predominantly be delivered remotely over ICT networks. BEA measures potentially ICT-enabled services rather than ICT-enabled services themselves because for many types of services the actual mode of delivery is unknown.
- Interactive data: International Services Tables
- Trade in Services in 2021 and Services Supplied Through Affiliates in 2020
Survey of Current Business October 2022 - includes a section on ICT and potentially ICT-enabled services. - Trends in U.S. Trade in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Services and in ICT-Enabled Services PDF
Alexis Grimm - Survey of Current Business May 2016 - Paper: Trends in Digitally-Enabled Trade in Services PDF
- Previously Published Estimates XLS
Country estimates in these files use a slightly different definition of ICT and potentially ICT-enabled services than in the interactive data.
Price Measurement of High-Tech Goods and Services
BEA is consistently working toward improving price measurement, especially for high-tech goods and services which frequently experience changing characteristics, improved quality, and price changes relative to other goods and services.
- Implications of Consumer Heterogeneity on Price Measures for Technology Goods
by Adam Hale Shapiro and Ana Aizcorbe | August 2010 - Why Are Semiconductor Price Indexes Falling So Fast?: Industry Estimates and Implications for Productivity Measurement
by Ana Aizcorbe | September 2005 - Differences in Hedonic and Matched-Model Price Indexes: Do the Weights Matter?
by Ana Aizcorbe and Yvon Pho | September 2005 - Price Deflators for High Technology Goods and the New Buyer Problem
March 2005
Data as an Asset
- Capitalizing Data: Case Studies of Tax Forms and Individual Credit Reports PDF
by Rachel Soloveichik | June 2023 - Valuing the U.S. Data Economy Using Machine Learning and Online Job Postings PDF
by José Bayoán Santiago Calderón and Dylan G. Rassier | August 2022 - Presentation: Valuing Stocks and Flows of Data Assets for the U.S. Business Sector PDF
BEA Advisory Committee Meeting | May 2022 - Treatment of Data in National Accounts PDF
by Dylan G. Rassier, Robert J. Kornfeld, and Erich H. Strassner | May 2019 - Value of Data: There's No Such Thing as a Free Lunch in the Digital Economy
by Wendy C.Y. Li, Makoto Nirei, and Kazufumi Yamana | February 2019
Other Research and Information
- Marketing, Other Intangibles, and Output Growth in 61 United States Industries
by Leo Sveikauskas, Rachel Soloveichik, Corby Garner, Peter B. Meyer, James Bessen, and Matthew Russell - Measuring the Cost of Open Source Software Innovation on GitHub
by J Bayoán Santiago Calderón , Carol Robbins , Ledia Guci , Gizem Korkmaz , and Brandon L. Kramer | July 2022 - Is Productivity on Vacation? The Impact of the Digital Economy on the Value of Leisure PDF
by Benjamin Bridgman | February 2018 - Measuring the "Free" Digital Economy within the GDP and Productivity Accounts PDF
by Leonard Nakamura, Jon Samuels, and Rachel Soloveichik | October 2017 - Valuing 'Free' Media in GDP: An Experimental Approach PDF
by Leonard Nakamura, Jon Samuels and Rachel Soloveichik | June 2016
- OECD Handbook on Compiling Digital Supply and Use Tables, November 2023
- Videos: Measuring the Digital Economy
from the Fifth IMF Statistical Forum, November 2017 - Podcast: GDP and the Value of "Free"
featuring BEA's Rachel Soloveichik, with The Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence, July 2017
What is the Digital Economy Satellite Account?
Measures the digital economy's contribution to U.S. GDP, improves measures of high-tech goods and services, and offers a more complete picture of international trade. Includes valuing digital-enabling infrastructure, e-commerce transactions, and digital media.
Stay on top of updates...
-
Digital EconomyTina Highfill