One industry sector drives the most growth in the Tampa-St. Pete metro area

The finance, insurance and real estate industry was responsible for about 70 percent of the growth in gross domestic product in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area in 2017.

The Tampa-St. Pete metro posted a 1.7 percent increase in GDP last year, according to new statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Companies making up the finance, insurance and real estate sector accounted for 1.19 percent of total GDP growth, the BEA said.

Gross domestic product is a primary indicator used to gauge the health of an economy and represents the total dollar value of all goods and services produced over a specific period of time.

The Tampa-St. Pete metro area’s total GDP in current dollars was $146.4 billion in 2017, and it ranked No. 26 among 383 metros nationwide. In 2016, the metro area’s GDP was $141.6 million in current dollars.

In contrast, the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area ranked No. 1 in 2017, with $1.7 trillion in GDP. In Florida, the Tampa-St. Pete metro was No. 2, behind the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro with $344.4 billion in 2017 GDP.

Increases in GDP are calculated by measuring “chained” dollars and take into account national price indexes.

In addition to finance, insurance and real estate, other industries that contributed to GDP growth in the Tampa-St. Pete metro area are:

• Professional and business services, 0.32 percent increase
• Trade, 0.27 percent increase
• Educational services, health care and social assistance, 0.24 percent increase
• Manufacturing (durable and non-durable combined), 0.23 percent increase
• Construction, 0.09 percent increase
• Government, 0.02 percent increase

A handful of industries produced negative GDP growth in the Tampa-St. Pete metro area:

• Transportation and utilities, 0.35 percent decline
• Information, 0.14 percent decline
• Arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation and food services, 0.09 percent decline
• Natural resources and mining, 0.08 percent decline