PHOENIX — Arizona's gross domestic product increased faster than the national average — but the state still lags the rest of the country when population growth is taken into account.
New figures released Thursday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis show that the total value of goods and services produced in the state last year grew 6.8 percent. That was the third-highest in the nation.
The $206 billion figure also beat out last year's revised 6.6 percent figure.
A large reason for Arizona's big jump is strictly statistical: The population grew faster than any other state's in 2006.
When considered on a per-capita basis, the state's gross domestic product grew less than 3.1 percent.
That was faster than a 2.4 percent national average. But it still left Arizona in 36th place among all states.
People are also reading…
And the state's $33,441 per capita figure was just 89 percent of the national average of $37,714.
The new report shows that the main thing driving the Arizona economy is real estate, which makes up nearly 16 percent of the increase. That includes how much Arizonans pay each month on home mortgages and rent.
Manufacturing of durable goods was 13 percent of the year-over-year hike, followed by about a 10 percent increase in retail trade.
David Drennon, a spokesman for the state Department of Commerce, said there are some indications that the 2007 figures will be better.
He pointed out that foreign exports from Arizona for the first quarter were up 23 percent from the same period a year earlier. For all of 2006, exports were $18 billion.
"If we continue along the same tracking for 2007 with that increase, we're actually going to reach $20 billion for the first time ever," Drennon said.
Topping the new report is Delaware with a state GDP of $59,288. The Bureau of Economic Analysis credits that to that state's high concentration of financial and insurance services.
Other states in the top five are Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey.
At the bottom of the list is Mississippi, with a state GDP of just $24,062.
Michigan — the home of the nation's ailing domestic auto industry — actually posted a half-point drop in its GDP.
The state figures are the state-by-state counterpart of the national GDP which the bureau says is the "most comprehensive measure of U.S. economic activity."
Arizona GDP
Real GDP In billions of dollars
2003 2004 2005 2006
$174.2 $181.1 $193.1 $206.2
Per capita GDP
2003 2004 2005 2006
$31,207 $31,525 $32,445 $33,441
Percentage of U.S. per-capita GDP
89% 87% 88% 89%