The arts and cultural sector grew at more than twice the rate of the total economy between 2022 and 2023, according to new data from the Arts and Cultural Production Satellite Account (ACPSA), a product of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).
ACPSA tracks the annual economic value of arts and cultural production from 35 industry groups—including both commercial and nonprofit entities. In 2023, the most recent year for which data are available, arts and culture again surpassed its annual value added to the U.S. economy with $1.2 trillion, representing 4.2 percent of the nation’s GDP. Most of the arts and cultural industries have exceeded their pre-pandemic numbers for value added; however, several are at or below their 2019 levels.
Beyond its contributions to GDP, the arts sector has yielded a growing trade surplus for the U.S. In 2023, the total value of the nation’s arts exports was nearly $37 billion greater than the value of arts imports from other countries.
National and state-level summary reports are both available at arts.gov, alongside interactive graphics that show the economic value and growth of different arts and cultural industries and the economic and employment impact of the arts in different states.