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Fact #527: July 14, 2008
Gross Domestic Product and Vehicle Travel: How Do They Relate?

The nation's highway vehicle miles of travel (VMT) and the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) reflect strikingly similar patterns, indicating the strong relationship between the nation's economy and its travel. Since the late 1990's, however, GDP appears to be growing at a faster rate than VMT. Many factors can affect VMT, including the price of gasoline and telecommuting trends.

Supporting Information

Gross Domestic Product and Vehicle Miles of Travel Indexes, 1960-2007

Year	GDP in Constant 2000 Dollars, Indexed to 1996	VMT Indexed to 1996
1960	30.0	28.9
1961	30.7	29.7
1962	32.6	30.8
1963	34.0	32.4
1964	36.0	34.0
1965	38.3	35.7
1966	40.8	37.2
1967	41.8	38.8
1968	43.9	40.9
1969	45.2	42.7
1970	45.3	44.6
1971	46.8	47.4
1972	49.3	50.7
1973	52.1	52.8
1974	51.9	51.5
1975	51.8	53.4
1976	54.5	56.4
1977	57.0	59.0
1978	60.2	62.1
1979	62.1	61.5
1980	62.0	61.4
1981	63.5	62.6
1982	62.3	64.2
1983	65.1	66.5
1984	69.8	69.2
1985	72.7	71.4
1986	75.2	73.8
1987	77.7	77.3
1988	81.0	81.5
1989	83.8	84.3
1990	85.4	86.3
1991	85.3	87.4
1992	88.1	90.4
1993	90.4	92.4
1994	94.1	94.8
1995	96.4	97.5
1996	100.0	100.0
1997	104.5	103.0
1998	108.9	105.9
1999	113.7	108.3
2000	117.9	110.5
2001	118.8	112.5
2002	120.6	114.9
2003	123.7	116.3
2004	128.2	119.2
2005	132.1	120.3
2006	135.9	121.3
2007	138.9	120.8
Source: Gross Domestic Product – Bureau of Economic Analysis (Excel 32 KB), Vehicle Miles of Travel – Federal Highway Administration, "Highway Statistics 2007," and previous versions. 2007 preliminary data from "Traffic Volume Trends."

 

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