The 2026 Annual Update of the National Economic Accounts

By Lisa Mataloni  |  September 30, 2026

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released its annual update of the National Economic Accounts (NEAs), which include the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPAs) and the Industry Economic Accounts, on September 30, 2026.¹ With improvements in concurrent production and publication of BEA statistics, the release of the annual update of the Regional Economic Accounts (REAs) occurred on the same day for the first time. Improvements incorporated as part of the NEA annual update impacted all three sets of accounts. The update period for NEA statistics was the first quarter of 2021 through the first quarter of 2026.

The update of the NEAs resulted in revisions to gross domestic product (GDP), GDP by industry, gross domestic income (GDI), and related components. The reference year for index numbers and chained-dollar estimates remains 2017.

The impacts of the annual update on the NIPA and industry estimates are summarized in the tables and charts provided in this article. Refer to “Information on 2026 Annual Updates to the National, Industry, State, and County Statistics” for additional background materials.

The updated NIPA and industry estimates reflect the incorporation of newly available and revised source data, the adoption of improved estimation methods, and, for quarterly and monthly measures, the incorporation of updated seasonal adjustment factors.

Major source data incorporated

The major source data incorporated into the NEAs as part of this year's update are summarized in table 1, and additional information on the NIPA components affected by the incorporation of newly available and revised source data is provided in the table “NIPA Revisions: Components Detail and Major Source Data and Conceptual Changes Incorporated, 2021–2025.”

Source data that affected the estimates include the following:

• BEA incorporated new data from the U.S. Census Bureau (Census) Annual Integrated Economic Survey (AIES). In past updates, BEA incorporated source data from several Census annual surveys, including the Annual Retail Trade Survey, the Annual Wholesale Trade Survey, the Service Annual Survey (SAS), and the Annual Survey of Manufactures. These surveys are now part of the AIES, which replaced and integrated these surveys into one. Census began releasing some data from the 2023 AIES data collection cycle in summer 2025, but the detail required for the NEAs was not available in time to incorporate into last year's annual update.

  For this year's update, BEA evaluated the 2023 AIES and incorporated data as appropriate on a best-change basis. The updated data impacted a range of estimates, including consumer spending, private fixed investment in equipment, intellectual property products, and residential improvements, as well as private gross output.² For series where breaks in the continuity of data or other challenges prevented BEA from using the AIES data, BEA used alternate data sources based primarily on higher frequency survey data. The “NIPA Revisions” table describes the alternate data sources used for the key components of GDP. AIES data for 2024 were not available in time for BEA to evaluate and incorporate into this year's update.

• Revised Census Quarterly Services Survey (QSS) data for 2024 and 2025 impacted estimates of consumer spending for services and estimates of private fixed investment in intellectual property products and equipment as well as gross output for private services-producing industries.
• Newly incorporated Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Statistics of Income (SOI) tabulations of tax returns for 2023 for corporations, sole proprietorships, and partnerships affected estimates of corporate profits, proprietors' income, and net interest, as well as GDP by industry estimates. Preliminary IRS data for 2024 was not available.
• Revised U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) data for 2021–2025 impacted estimates of private and government compensation.
• Revised U.S. Department of Agriculture farm statistics for 2021–2025 impacted estimates of farm output, inventory investment, and proprietors' income.
• Revised BEA International Transactions Accounts (ITAs) data for 2021–2025 impacted estimates of exports and imports of goods and services and income flows with the rest of the world.³
• Revised Census Annual Surveys of State and Local Government Finances (GF) for fiscal years 2022–2023 and newly available GF data for fiscal year 2024 impacted estimates of state and local government spending.
• New federal government budget data from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget for fiscal year 2026 and revised data for fiscal year 2025 impacted estimates of federal government spending.

Methodology improvements with this year's annual update focus mainly on the deflation measures for several consumer spending components, notably:

• BEA improved the deflation methodology for consumer spending on portfolio management and investment advice services to better reflect the timing and quantity of services consumed. The quantity of portfolio management services will be derived using a BLS Current Employment Statistics (CES)-based quantity extrapolator from the portfolio management and investment advice industry.

  The previous methodology used revenue data for portfolio management and investment advice services from Census to derive current-dollar estimates for consumer spending. A BLS producer price index (PPI) for portfolio management and investment advice was used for deflation. Census revenue and BLS PPI data for portfolio management and investment advice services should capture the effects of asset value changes and fee rate changes similarly. However, the observed movement for these two series has not been consistent and has driven uncorroborated volatility in the resultant quantity estimates.

  The improved method estimates the quantity of services directly by extrapolation using BLS CES employment and hours. Current-dollar estimates will continue to be derived using Census data, and the price index will be derived implicitly.⁴ This approach reduces the uncorroborated volatility of monthly and quarterly chained-dollar estimates and better measures the long-term change in services consumed.

• BEA replaced the consumer price index (CPI) for legal services with an improved composite price index based on PPIs for legal services.⁵ This CPI was mostly unpublished since 2023 and was last published for the month of September 2024. BEA had been using unpublished CPI values provided by BLS, although these values did not meet BLS publication quality guidelines and have recently exhibited erratic changes that cannot be corroborated and are not consistent with other source data.

  To address these issues, BEA replaced the CPI for legal services with a new composite price index derived from the following PPIs:

  • Civil negligence legal services
  • “Other legal services”
  • Wills, estate planning, and probate
  • Real estate legal services
  • Labor and employment legal services

  The weights used to combine these PPIs were based on unpublished detailed personal consumption expenditures (PCE) items within BEA’s benchmark Input-Output Accounts.

• BEA replaced the deflator for consumer spending on computer software and accessories to better reflect the composition of products included in this category. Recent changes in the CPI for computer software and accessories highlighted the composition of the CPI relative to the composition of the NIPA category. The NIPA consumer spending category for computer software and accessories includes items that are outside the scope of the CPI, such as game software publishing and application service provisioning, and excludes accessories, such as flash drives and blank media, which are within the scope of the CPI.

  To better reflect the composition of this NIPA category, BEA now uses a composite price index that combines the CPI for computer software and accessories with the PPI for game software publishing and the PPI for hosting, ASP, and other IT infrastructure provisioning services. The weights used to combine these three prices were based on unpublished detailed PCE items within BEA’s benchmark Input-Output Accounts.

In general, the picture of the economy shown by the updated estimates is similar to the picture previously published (table 2). Over the recent period from 2020 to 2025, the average annual rate of change in real GDP was 3.4 percent, revised up 0.1 percentage point from the previous estimate (chart 1).

Details on the revisions to the percent change in real GDP are presented in table 3A, and details on the contributions to those revisions are presented in table 3B. Details on revisions and contributions to revisions for each expenditure component of real GDP are presented in appendix A (tables A1–A12). As noted above, the major source data incorporated for each component of GDP and GDI are presented in the “NIPA Revisions” table.

The percent change in real GDP was revised up for 2021, 2024, and 2025, was revised down for 2022, and was the same as previously estimated for 2023 (chart 2).

• For 2021, the change in real GDP was revised up by 0.1 percentage point, from 6.2 percent to 6.3 percent, primarily reflecting a downward revision to imports (which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP) and upward revisions to state and local government spending and consumer spending.⁶ The revision to imports reflect a downward revision to services (led by transport) primarily based on revised data from BEA's ITAs. The revision to state and local government spending was led by intermediate goods and services purchased based on revised Census GF data. The revision to consumer spending reflect an upward revision to services (led by portfolio management and investment advice) based on revised Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation data and previously incorporated SAS data deflated with the new implicit price based on BLS CES employment and hours.
• For 2022, the change in real GDP was revised down by 0.1 percentage point, from 2.5 percent to 2.4 percent, primarily reflecting downward revisions to consumer spending (led by travel) based on revised data from BEA's ITAs, and to state and local government spending (led by intermediate goods and services purchased) based on revised Census GF data.
• For 2023, the change in real GDP was unrevised at 2.9 percent, primarily reflecting upward revisions to state and local government spending and nonresidential fixed investment that were offset by downward revisions to consumer spending on services and to private inventory investment. The upward revision to state and local government spending (led by intermediate goods and services purchased) was based on revised Census GF data. The upward revision to nonresidential fixed investment (led by equipment, notably medical equipment and instruments) was based on Census AIES data. The downward revision to consumer spending on services (led by financial services furnished without payment) was based primarily on new IRS SOI data and revised data from the Federal Reserve Board's Financial Accounts of the United States. The downward revision to private inventory investment (led by manufacturing) was based on revised Census MSM data.
• For 2024, the change in real GDP was revised up by 0.2 percentage point, from 2.8 percent to 3.0 percent, primarily reflecting upward revisions to nonresidential fixed investment (led by structures, notably investment in commercial and health care) based on Census Value of Construction Put in Place Survey (VIP) data and state and local government spending (led by intermediate goods and services purchased) based on newly available GF data.
• For 2025, the change in real GDP was revised up by 0.2 percentage point, from 2.1 percent to 2.3 percent, primarily reflecting upward revisions to nonresidential fixed investment in structures (led by commercial and health care as well as mining exploration, shafts, and wells) and state and local government spending (led by intermediate goods and services purchased). These revisions were partly offset by an upward revision to imports (led by “other business services,” notably insurance). The revision to structures was based on revised Census VIP data and data from the American Petroleum Institute. The revision to state and local government spending was based on newly available GF data. The revision to imports was based on revised data from BEA's ITAs.

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Prices

Revisions to BEA's various price measures, such as gross domestic purchases, GDP, and the PCE price index, were small and reflect revised and newly available source data, updated methodologies, and, for the most recent year (2025), the regular incorporation of annual weights (tables 4A and 4B). Prices for gross domestic purchases—a measure of the prices paid by consumers, businesses, and governments—increased at an average annual growth rate of 3.9 percent over the recent period from 2020 to 2025, the same as previously published (chart 1). The revisions to the percent change in prices and price contributions are presented in tables 4A and 4B, respectively. Revisions to the prices impacted by the methodology changes noted above are presented in charts 8 through 10 on a quarterly basis.

Income

Revisions to the components of national income and GDI primarily reflect new IRS SOI data, new and revised QCEW data, revised ITA data, and data from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Revisions are most notable for 2023–2025 (chart 3 and tables 5 and 6).

• For 2023, the upward revisions to national income and GDI primarily reflect an upward revision to net interest based on new SOI data for corporations, sole proprietorships, and partnerships. This upward revision was partly offset by a downward revision to proprietors' income based on new IRS SOI tabulations of partnership, sole proprietorship, and corporate tax return data.
• For 2024 and 2025, the upward revisions to national income and GDI primarily reflect upward revisions to net interest based on extrapolations of 2023 SOI data that were informed by Compustat interest expense data. These upward revisions were partly offset by a downward revision to proprietors' income based on extrapolated IRS SOI data and industry-specific indicators. Downward revisions to corporate profits in each year also offset the upward revisions to net interest based on revised Census Quarterly Financial Report data, regulatory agency data, and public financial reports profits data.

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The update had a notable impact on the statistical discrepancy (chart 4 and table 6) for 2023–2025. In theory, GDI should equal GDP, but in practice, they differ because their components are estimated using largely independent source data. The statistical discrepancy as a percent of GDP was revised closer to zero for all 3 years: from 1.2 percent to 0.4 percent in 2023, from 1.0 percent to 0.3 percent in 2024, and from 0.7 percent to –0.2 percent in 2025.

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Measures of personal income were also impacted by newly available and revised source data (table 7), most notably in 2024 and 2025.

• Personal income was revised up $137.5 billion in 2024 and $227.7 billion in 2025 led by upward revisions to personal interest income based primarily on extrapolations of 2023 IRS SOI data for corporations, sole proprietorships, and partnerships informed by Compustat interest expense data.
• The personal saving rate (personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income) was unrevised for 2021 and revised up for 2022–2025.

The revisions to net exports of goods and services reflect the annual update of BEA's ITAs, which revised goods and primary income data from 2021 to 2025 and services and secondary income data from 1999 to 2025.⁷ However, the revision period for the 2026 annual update of the NIPAs was 2021 to 2025. As a result, there are discontinuities between the 2020 and 2021 NIPA estimates of services and secondary income. For current-dollar net exports of goods and services (and for current-dollar GDP), the change from 2020 to 2021 was $9.0 billion higher than if the ITA revisions to 2020 had been incorporated (table 8).

GDP and GDI

Chart 5 shows revised and previously published percent changes from the preceding quarter for real GDP for the first quarter of 2021 through the first quarter of 2026. With the updated estimates, the overall pattern of economic growth over this period remains unchanged.

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Notable quarterly revisions include:

• In the first quarter of 2024, the increase in real GDP was revised up 0.6 percentage point, from 0.8 percent to 1.4 percent, primarily reflecting a downward revision to imports (led by consumer durable goods) based on revised data from BEA's ITAs and an upward revision to government spending (led by state and local government investment in structures) based on revised Census VIP data.
• In the fourth quarter of 2024, the increase in real GDP was revised up 0.5 percentage point, from 1.9 percent to 2.4 percent, primarily reflecting upward revisions to nonresidential fixed investment (led by structures, notably commercial and health care) based on revised Census VIP data and to consumer spending (led by final expenditures of nonprofit institutions serving households and food services and accommodations) based on revised Census QSS data and revised monthly retail sales.
• In the first quarter of 2025, the increase in real GDP was revised up 0.7 percentage point, from a decrease of 0.6 percent to an increase of 0.1 percent, primarily reflecting updated data from BEA's ITAs. Imports were revised down (led by consumer goods, both durable and nondurable, and by automotive vehicles, engines, and parts) and exports were revised up (led by other business services).
• In the third quarter of 2025, the increase in real GDP was revised down 0.5 percentage point, from a decrease of 0.6 percent to an increase of 0.1 percent, primarily reflecting an upward revision to imports of both goods and services, based on updated data from BEA's ITAs. Within goods imports, upward revisions were widespread, led by consumer goods (mainly nondurable) and by capital goods, except automotive. Within services, the leading contributor to the revision was other business services (led by insurance).

From the fourth quarter of 2020 to the first quarter of 2026, the average annual rate of change in real GDP was 3.0 percent, revised up 0.1 percentage point from the previously published estimate. Real GDI over the same period also increased 3.0 percent, revised up 0.4 percentage point, revising the average of GDP and GDI up by 0.2 percentage point (chart 6).

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Prices

From the fourth quarter of 2020 to the first quarter of 2026, the average annual rate of change in the price index for gross domestic purchases was 3.9 percent, revised down 0.1 percentage point from the previously published estimate. Over the same period, the price index for PCE increased 4.0 percent, the same as previously published, and the core PCE price index, which excludes food and energy, increased 3.8 percent, revised down 0.1 percentage point.

Quarterly revisions to the change in the core PCE price index primarily reflect updated BLS CPIs (chart 7).

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Previously published and revised price indexes are shown in charts 8 through 10 for the three methodology changes noted above. Revised indexes follow the same general pattern as previously published while reducing quarter-to-quarter volatility and improving the alignment between the components of consumer spending and the indexes used for deflation.

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Business cycles

The percent change in real GDP during the latest expansion from the second quarter of 2020 to the first quarter of 2026 was 27.1 percent (4.3 percent at an annual rate). There were no revisions to earlier contractions and expansions, because those cycles were not impacted by the updated timespan (table 9).

The picture of GDP by industry—or value added, which measures an industry's contribution to GDP—was largely unchanged with the annual update. Revisions to annual percent changes in real GDP by industry for 2021–2025 are discussed below and presented in chart 11 and table 10. Revisions to industry contributions to the percent change in real GDP are presented in table 11.

Revisions to GDP by industry

The updated estimates reflect upward revisions to private goods-producing industries, private services-producing industries, and government. As with the revisions to the NIPAs, the revisions to the Industry Economic Accounts were largely driven by newly available and revised source data.

• For 2021, the change in real GDP was revised up 0.1 percentage point, from 6.2 percent to 6.3 percent, primarily reflecting upward revisions to private goods-producing industries (led by durable-goods manufacturing and nondurable-goods manufacturing) and private services-producing industries (led by finance and insurance, real estate and rental and leasing, and wholesale trade). The direction of change was the same as previously published for 21 of 22 major industry groups.
• For 2022, the increase in real GDP was revised down 0.1 percentage point, from 2.5 percent to 2.4 percent, primarily reflecting a downward revision to private services-producing industries (led by management of companies and enterprises). The direction of change was the same for all 22 major industry groups.
• For 2023, the increase in real GDP was 2.9 percent, the same as previously published. Within private goods-producing industries, downward revisions to nondurable-goods manufacturing and construction were partly offset by upward revisions to mining and durable-goods manufacturing. Within private services-producing industries, downward revisions led by retail trade, real estate and rental and leasing, administrative and waste management services, and health care and social assistance were partly offset by upward revisions led by finance and insurance. Within government, state and local government was revised up. The direction of change was the same as previously published for 16 of 22 major industry groups.
• For 2024, the increase in real GDP was revised up 0.2 percentage point, from 2.8 percent to 3.0 percent, primarily reflecting an upward revision to private services-producing industries (led by information, real estate and rental and leasing, and finance and insurance). The direction of change was the same as previously published for 19 of 22 major industry groups.
• For 2025, the increase in real GDP was revised up 0.2 percentage point, from 2.1 percent to 2.3 percent, primarily reflecting an upward revision to private services-producing industries (led by wholesale trade, real estate and rental and leasing, and finance and insurance). The direction of change was the same as previously published for 18 of 22 major industry groups.

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From 2020 to 2025, the average annual change in real GDP was 3.4 percent, 0.1 percentage point higher than previously estimated (chart 12). Over the same period, private goods-producing industries increased 2.1 percent, the same as previously estimated. Private services-producing industries increased 4.1 percent, 0.1 percentage point higher than previously estimated. Government increased 1.0 percent, the same as previously estimated. The direction of change over the period was unrevised for 21 of 22 major industry groups (chart 13). The largest revision over the period was to management of companies and enterprises (revised up from an increase of 0.4 percent to an increase of 5.4 percent).

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Revisions to gross output

Gross output is principally a measure of an industry's sales or receipts, which includes sales to final users in the economy (GDP) and sales to other industries (intermediate inputs). The percent change in real gross output was revised down 0.1 percentage point to an increase of 6.8 percent for 2021, revised down 0.1 percentage point to an increase of 2.8 percent for 2022, revised down 0.6 percentage point to an increase of 2.0 percent for 2023, revised up 0.1 percentage point to an increase of 2.4 percent for 2024, and revised up 0.3 percentage point to an increase of 1.8 percent for 2025 (table 12).