How come GDP of Canadian provinces are much smaller than GDP of U.S. states? (2015, quality of life)

[Daywalk]

Canadian provinces GDP in 2015 in Canadian dollar: Gross domestic product, expenditure-based, by province and territory
Converted to U.S. dollars using IMF data: Report for Selected Countries and Subjects
U.S. states 2015 GDP: https://www.bea.gov/iTable/drilldown...ill=1&nRange=5


30 largest Sub-national jurisdictions in the United States and Canada by GDP in 2015:
01. California - US$2.492 trillion
02. Texas - US$1.611 trillion
03. New York - US$1.446 trillion
04. Florida - US$884 billion
05. Illinois - US$772 billion
06. Pennsylvania - US$708 billion
07. Ohio - US$607 billion
08. Ontario - US$597 billion
09. New Jersey - US$564 billion
10. Georgia - US$502 billion
11. North Carolina - US$500 billion
12. Massachusetts - US$488 billion
13. Virginia - US$482 billion
14. Michigan - US$471 billion
15. Washington - US$446 billion
16. Maryland - US$366 billion
17. Indiana - US$333 billion
18. Minnesota - US$327 billion
19. Tennessee - US$317 billion
20. Colorado - US$313 billion
21. Wisconsin - US$302 billion
22. Quebec - US$298 billion
23. Missouri - US$293 billion
24. Arizona - US$291 billion
25. Connecticut - US$256 billion
26. Alberta - US$255 billion
27. Louisiana - US$238 billion
28. Oregon - US$217 billion
29. South Carolina - US$202 billion
30. Alabama - US$200 billion

Only 3 Canadian provinces made it to top 30.

[BruSan]

I'll bite; why do you think it would be for any reason other than the obvious one of having less than 1/10th the population all spread out over a country larger than the U.S.?

[BMI]

Originally Posted by Daywalk

Canadian provinces GDP in 2015 in Canadian dollar: Gross domestic product, expenditure-based, by province and territory
Converted to U.S. dollars using IMF data: Report for Selected Countries and Subjects
U.S. states 2015 GDP: https://www.bea.gov/iTable/drilldown...ill=1&nRange=5


30 largest Sub-national jurisdictions in the United States and Canada by GDP in 2015:
01. California - US$2.492 trillion
02. Texas - US$1.611 trillion
03. New York - US$1.446 trillion
04. Florida - US$884 billion
05. Illinois - US$772 billion
06. Pennsylvania - US$708 billion
07. Ohio - US$607 billion
08. Ontario - US$597 billion
09. New Jersey - US$564 billion
10. Georgia - US$502 billion
11. North Carolina - US$500 billion
12. Massachusetts - US$488 billion
13. Virginia - US$482 billion
14. Michigan - US$471 billion
15. Washington - US$446 billion
16. Maryland - US$366 billion
17. Indiana - US$333 billion
18. Minnesota - US$327 billion
19. Tennessee - US$317 billion
20. Colorado - US$313 billion
21. Wisconsin - US$302 billion
22. Quebec - US$298 billion
23. Missouri - US$293 billion
24. Arizona - US$291 billion
25. Connecticut - US$256 billion
26. Alberta - US$255 billion
27. Louisiana - US$238 billion
28. Oregon - US$217 billion
29. South Carolina - US$202 billion
30. Alabama - US$200 billion

Only 3 Canadian provinces made it to top 30.

Well, a couple of things come to mind....
population for one.

Some US states have a higher population than any Canadian Province...
California has a population of 38 million, more than the entire country of Canada,
so of course it will have a gigantic GDP, no Canadian province can ever try to match, lol.

Texas has a a population of over 26 million....more than Ontario and Quebec combined.

New York state and Florida are both at about 20 million each. Again, larger than any Canadian province.

Those 4 states are on a different level obviously.

Ontario...the most populous Canadian province, has a population of about Illinois,
Ontario GDP is in the $750 billion CAD range...however when converted to USD you get $597 USD.

That is the second thing...a few years ago Canadian currency was at par with USD,
unfotunately price of oil tanked (no pun intended)and the Canadian dollar sunk badly.

Quebec has a population more in the range of North Carolina or Georgia,
it's GDP is about $400 billion Canadian, below those states $500 billion, but not too shabby,
of course converting to USD brings it down to about $300 billion.

Alberta does pretty well, considering it's population is under 4 million,
unfortunately it has an oil dominated economy that has recently been hurt by low oil prices.

[Acajack]

Quebec's population is actually closer to Virginia and New Jersey.

One thing is that GDP relative to population is almost always lower for Canadian provinces and metro areas than it is for US states and metros.

Even a high performing metro like Toronto is lower than comparably sized US metros and even some that are smaller.

The reason for this is likely that the US economy is more highly capitalized than Canada's. And having more money around at the outset begets more money.

[botticelli]

Gross Domestic product = investment + consumption + net export.

It is a rough measure for total economic output during a certain period, yet people read too much into it and are obesssed with it. If consumers by more stuff, GDP will be higher. If the government decides to invest more, GDP will be higher. If export goes up, so does GDP.

GDP is useful, but often people abuse its usefulness. Among rich countries, one should really care about improving quality of life rather than GDP.

Oklahoma or Mississippi a high per capita GDP than most Canadian and west European countries. Where do you want to live, be my guest.

[Acajack]

Yeah. Because of the oil and gas industry, Newfoundland had one of the highest GDPs per capita in Canada in recent years, in spite of also having the highest or second highest jobless rate (well over 10%) and serious poverty problems.

[BruSan]

Form over function? Quantity ahead of quality?

[Nn2036]

Population difference

[Return2FL]

1> Very obviously population
2> Regulation and taxes
3> Smaller details like weather, remoteness, lack of concentrated populations and a likely endless litany of other factors beyond anybody's control.

#2 is an economic wet blanket. Every dollar a business has to spend on compliance and taxes is a dollar less that it can invest in growing the business.

[mikeyyc]

The chart isn't per capita. Small population, smaller GDP. Alberta is smaller than Oregon, but has a slightly higher GDP, so comparatively speaking, the provinces are doing well.