Federal Reserve Economic Data

The FRED Blog has discussed why residents of richer countries live longer lives, on average, than residents of poorer countries. In short, higher income levels allow access to higher-quality healthcare and overall better living conditions. Today, we highlight a positive trend on this topic: The average life expectancy in poor countries is rising and gradually catching up to the average life expectancy in rich countries.

The FRED graph above shows data from the World Bank about the average number of years a person born in each year is expected to live. Each line represents a set of countries grouped by level of income: high income in red, medium income in green, and low income in blue.

The graph shows that, in 1960, the resident of a poor country was expected to live an average of 41 years. By 2021, their life expectancy had increased to 62 years. That’s still short of the 80-year average a resident of a rich country born in 2021 is expected to live, but proportionally closer than the gap recorded more than half a century ago. And the reason for that is declining infant mortality in poor countries.

B. Ravikumar and Amy Smaldone at the St. Louis Fed argue that larger numbers of newborns surviving to at least age 1 raise the average count of years individuals are expected to live. In other words, lower infant mortality rates in poor countries are driving their higher life expectancy rates. These researchers prove their point by presenting a counterfactual argument: If their argument were wrong, the life expectancy data shown in the above FRED graph would look very different.

For more about this and other research, visit the website of the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, which offers an array of economic analysis and expertise provided by our staff.

How this graph was created: Search FRED for “Life Expectancy at Birth, Total for Low Income Countries.” Next, click the “Edit Graph” button and select the “Add Line” tab to search for and add “Life Expectancy at Birth, Total for High Income Countries.” Repeat the last step to add “Life Expectancy at Birth, Total for Middle Income Countries.”

Suggested by Diego Mendez-Carbajo.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) produces economic accounts statistics that enable decisionmakers and researchers of all kinds to track and understand the performance of the nation’s economy.

One of BEA’s headline indicators is domestic economic activity. BEA uses three different—and, in principle, equivalent—statistics to estimate the dollar value of this activity. Each of these statistics offers a different perspective on the economy, and the FRED graph above shows them side by side.

• Red bars show gross domestic product (GDP), also known as the expenditure measure of domestic economic activity. GDP reflects the value of (and demand for) US-produced final goods and services and estimates present economic activity from the vantage point of consumers, investors, governments, and foreigners.
• Green bars show the value of gross domestic income (GDI), also known as the income measure of domestic economic activity. GDI reflects the income generated from producing goods and services and estimates present economic activity from the vantage point of workers, business owners, and others (such as governments and nonprofits) that participate in production.
• Blue bars show gross value added (GVA), also known as the production measure of domestic economic activity. GVA reflects the supply of production from US industries and estimates present economic activity from the vantage point of businesses, households and institutions, and the general government.

BEA data on GDP, GDI, and GVA are available at the same time with the third estimate of GDP for each quarter, as well as in annual updates and, as of September 2023, comprehensive updates. This is a historic achievement for economic measurement in the US.

This FRED Blog post is an adaptation of The BEA Wire’s “Musings from Mackinac Bridge: Three Ways to Measure Economy Offer Different Perspectives.”

How this graph was created: Search FRED for “Gross value added: GDP: Business.” Next, click on the “Edit Graph” button and select the “Line 1” tab to customize the data. Start by searching for “Gross value added: GDP: Households and institutions.” Click on “Add.” Further customize the data by searching for “Gross value added: GDP: General government.” Don’t forget to click on “Add.” Next, type the formula a+b+c. Next, use the “Add Line” tab to search for and add two more series to the graph: “Gross Domestic Product, Billions of Dollars, Not Seasonally Adjusted, Annual” and “Gross Domestic Income, Billions of Dollars, Not Seasonally Adjusted, Annual.” Last, use the “Format” tab to select “Graph type: Bar.”

Suggested by Diego Mendez-Carbajo.

The FRED Blog has used data from the US Census to discuss the flows of net migration at the county and state levels. Those data have no information about the age of the people who switch places of residence, but other datasets offer insights into who moves and where they move.

The FRED map above shows 2022 data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics about the average age of the person tagged as the “individual of reference” in its Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES). This is the first person listed in the survey response of a “consumer unit,” which is a group of people living together. There are four Census regions and four colored data ranges, each representing a slightly different age group. Thanks to improvements in living standards, the US population is living longer and its average age is rising.

Recent research from Victoria Gregory and Kevin Bloodworth at the St Louis Fed studies where people choose to live as they age. Here’s what they find: In their 20s, members of the Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials were more likely to live in large central metropolitan areas than members of Generation Z. Urban flight to the suburbs seems to generally characterize location decisions for people in their 30s, but it is too early to tell whether and where members of Generation Z may choose to move.

For more about this and other research, visit the website of the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis, which offers an array of economic analysis and expertise provided by our staff.

How this map was created: Search FRED for and select “Consumer Unit Characteristics: Age of Reference Person by Region: Residence in the South Census Region.” Click on the green button “View Map.”

Suggested by Diego Mendez-Carbajo.