California kept its bragging rights as the world’s fourth-largest economy in the latest update on state-level business output.
The Golden State economy was producing goods and services at a nation-leading $4.215 trillion annual pace in the second quarter. That’s according to the latest estimates of gross domestic product by the Bureau of Economic Analysis released Friday, Sept. 26.
GDP is a broad measure of the production of goods and services, often seen as a yardstick of a region’s economic vibrancy. California’s economy was growing at a 4.3% annual rate at mid-year 2025.
This geeky economic statistic has morphed into political brownie points for the state by comparing California’s business output to the latest global GDP rankings from the International Monetary Fund.
The latest IMF report from April ranked the U.S. as the GDP leader, with an estimated output of $30.5…
