Economies of
Missouri Metros Larger
than Many Countries
Metropolitan
areas make up a significant portion of the U.S. economy, accounting
for 86.3% of the nation's output of goods and services. Likewise,
Missouri's metropolitan areas make up approximately 77.7% of
Missouri's $203.3 billion economy and are even larger than the
economies of some countries around the world. A recent report
prepared by Global Insight for the U.S. Conference of Mayors
compares the estimated Gross Metropolitan Product (GMP) of 361
metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the U.S. to the Gross State
Product (GSP) of U.S. states and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of
countries.
The St. Louis MO-IL MSA, Missouri's largest metropolitan area, had an estimated GMP of $102.0 billion in 2004, larger than the economies of not only the states of Nevada and Kansas, but also larger than countries like Hungary, Colombia and New Zealand. The St. Louis MSA had the 20th largest economy of the 361 metropolitan areas in the U.S.
The Kansas City MO-KS MSA had an estimated GMP of $73.9 billion in 2004, ranking 29th among the MSAs. This was larger than the countries of Romania and Peru and the states of Nebraska and New Mexico.
Other Missouri MSA ranks for GMP: Springfield (128th), Joplin (232nd), Columbia (234th), Jefferson City (248th) and St. Joseph (303rd). Even Missouri's smallest MSA, St. Joseph MO-KS, had a larger economy than the nations of Chad and Liechtenstein.
Source: U.S. Conference of Mayors, The Role of
Metro Areas in the U.S. Economy, January 2006.
