Gross domestic product (GDP) is the measure of all the goods and services produced in Portland. It is the standard metric for tracking the size of the total economy and its growth over time.

GDP measures the value of final goods and services produced within the United States. Also known as value added, GDP is the value of goods and services produced by private industry and government, less the value of goods and services used up in production.

Goods are tangible objects. Durable goods, such as autos and furniture that have a useful life of three years or more, and non-durable goods, such as fuel, food, and clothing. Services are economic exchanges that cannot be placed inside a box. Health care, car repair, dog walking, legal advice, etc. are all examples of services.

From 2012 to 2019, the Portland economy enjoyed an impressive GDP growth rate averaging 4.7% a year, adjusted for inflation. This was about twice as fast as the U.S. GDP growth. Over this seven-year period, the city experienced a cumulative increase of 38% in GDP. 

For 2023, the GDP for the city of Portland was $77.7 billion. This is essentially unchanged from the $78.1 billion figure in 2019. In contrast, the national GDP grew by more than 12%. 

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) estimates GDP at the county level on an annual basis. The county-level GDP is a function of the total covered wages of all workers in the county. Covered wages are the total wages that are filed with state and federal agencies listed on a W-4 form.

Applying the BEA methodology using the city of Portland total covered wages yields an estimate for the GDP for the city of Portland.

Detailed GDP estimates for 3,100 counties can be found at the Bureau of Economic Analysis website.