The Democrats' best card
Johnson 5.1%
From 6.1% to 4.8%, December 1962 to December 1968.
The chart they hide: Obama 1.7%
AI illustrationGDP growth
Economic growth under every president: the scoreboard both parties cherry-pick
Pick the right start year and either party looks brilliant. Here are all of them, so nobody gets to choose.
- real growth per year · December 2025
- 2.2%
- vs. a year ago
- −0.6 pts
- Record high · December 1984
- 7.2%
- Record low · December 2009
- -2.6%
The whole story, month by month
Democrats vs. Republicans
Democrats3.4%average in office, over 31 years and 6 presidencies
Republicans2.6%average in office, over 33 years and 7 presidencies
Both sides have a chart to wave
The Republicans' best card
Nixon 3.5%
From 4.8% to 5.7%, December 1968 to December 1973.
The chart they hide: Trump I 1.5%
Every president, ranked
Average while in office. Best to worst.
- Johnson5.1%
- Kennedy4.2%
- Clinton3.9%
- Biden3.6%
- Nixon3.5%
- Reagan3.5%
- Carter3.3%
- G.H.W. Bush2.2%
- G.W. Bush2.2%
- Trump II (so far)2.2%
- Obama1.7%
- Ford1.5%
- Trump I1.5%
Why this number starts fights
GDP is the widest measure of the economy, and also the easiest to cherry-pick. Presidents inherit booms and recessions, and new policies take time to work. Annual World Bank figures smooth out quarters that campaigns love to quote. Average growth alone also says nothing about who received the gains.
How to read it without getting played
No president controls this number alone. Congress, the Federal Reserve, global markets, wars, pandemics and the economy they inherited all move it. A term's score shows what happened on their watch, not what they caused. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling a side.
Method: average of all readings during each term. The party figure weights each term by its length.
More numbers people fight about
Jobs159.0 million+0.5 million vs. a year agononfarm payrolls · September 2026Unemployment4.2%−0.2 pts vs. a year agoof the labor force · September 2026National debt$40.5 trillion+5.6% vs. a year agototal public debt · November 2026Real wages$370−1.6% vs. a year agomedian weekly pay, 1982-84 $ · September 2026
Show the yearly table
| Year | Value |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 2.2% |
| 2024 | 2.8% |
| 2023 | 2.9% |
| 2022 | 2.5% |
| 2021 | 6.2% |
| 2020 | -2.1% |
| 2019 | 2.6% |
| 2018 | 3.0% |
| 2017 | 2.5% |
| 2016 | 1.8% |
| 2015 | 3.0% |
| 2014 | 2.5% |
| 2013 | 2.1% |
| 2012 | 2.3% |
| 2011 | 1.6% |
| 2010 | 2.7% |
| 2009 | -2.6% |
| 2008 | 0.1% |
| 2007 | 2.0% |
| 2006 | 2.8% |
| 2005 | 3.5% |
| 2004 | 3.9% |
| 2003 | 2.8% |
| 2002 | 1.7% |
| 2001 | 1.0% |
| 2000 | 4.1% |
| 1999 | 4.8% |
| 1998 | 4.5% |
| 1997 | 4.5% |
| 1996 | 3.8% |
| 1995 | 2.7% |
| 1994 | 4.0% |
| 1993 | 2.8% |
| 1992 | 3.5% |
| 1991 | -0.1% |
| 1990 | 1.9% |
| 1989 | 3.7% |
| 1988 | 4.2% |
| 1987 | 3.5% |
| 1986 | 3.5% |
| 1985 | 4.2% |
| 1984 | 7.2% |
| 1983 | 4.6% |
| 1982 | -1.8% |
| 1981 | 2.5% |
| 1980 | -0.3% |
| 1979 | 3.2% |
| 1978 | 5.5% |
| 1977 | 4.6% |
| 1976 | 5.4% |
| 1975 | -0.2% |
| 1974 | -0.5% |
| 1973 | 5.7% |
| 1972 | 5.3% |
| 1971 | 3.3% |
| 1970 | 0.2% |
| 1969 | 3.1% |
| 1968 | 4.8% |
| 1967 | 2.5% |
| 1966 | 6.5% |
| 1965 | 6.4% |
| 1964 | 5.8% |
| 1963 | 4.4% |
| 1962 | 6.1% |
| 1961 | 2.3% |