A blog post from BEA Director Vipin Arora
A friend of mine recently went on vacation just to drive fast cars on a professional racetrack. Swiping through endless pictures, my friend waxed lyrical about each car’s acceleration. I share his enthusiasm to go faster—for different reasons. I crunch numbers for a living, so when I hear acceleration, I think about how BEA can deliver the world’s most timely economic statistics even quicker.
On that front, I’ve got some good news to share: 2026 is going to be a year of acceleration at BEA.
It will start right away in January, when we’ll move up our monthly personal income and outlays news release to come out on the same day and at the same time as gross domestic product (GDP). This will be historic: Users will be able to get the latest monthly statistics on consumer spending, inflation, and personal income alongside the latest quarterly statistics on economic activity.
We’ll build on that in March and accelerate our state GDP and personal income estimates and include them in a single news release with national and industry GDP numbers. For the first time ever, users will get national, state, and industry economic data with our third estimate of national GDP—providing a more comprehensive picture of changes in the U.S. economy.
In March we’ll also accelerate the release of our quarterly International Investment Position (IIP) statistics. The IIP estimates will be combined with our quarterly statistics on International Transactions, including the U.S. current account, the broadest measure of trade and investment flows. This will give users a snapshot of the stock of U.S. financial assets and liabilities through the IIPs, along with the corresponding flows through the international transactions accounts. Separately, statistics on New Foreign Direct Investment in the United States will be available one month earlier, in mid-June 2026; data on the Activities of U.S. Affiliates of Foreign Multinational Enterprises will be available in July 2026, faster than the prior year's November release.
And, as always, we’ll continue to explore ways to speed up our statistical offerings, while also delivering innovative economic statistics that keep pace with the global economy and the needs of the American people.