After showing the highest growth rate in the U.S. in the third and fourth quarters of 2024, Arkansas GDP growth in 2025:Q1 again exceeded the pace of most of the nation. As previously reported, U.S. GDP contracted at an annual rate of 0.5% in the first quarter of the year. The state-level date show that Arkansas was one of only 10 states showing positive GDP growth for the quarter, having increased at an annual rate of 0.8%. Arkansas ranked 5th-highest in growth, with other positive-growth states clustered in the southeast.
The volatile agriculture component was once again a driving factor for Arkansas GDP growth in the first quarter. After declining in 2022 and 2023, the trajectory for the Agriculture sector (which also includes forestry, fishing and hunting) has sharply recovered, expanding by 77% since the second quarter of 2024.
As shown in the table below, the agriculture sector contributed 1.6 percentage points to Arkansas GDP growth. Without that sector included, Arkansas GDP growth would have been negative at -0.8%. Nevertheless, there were other factors contributing to positive growth, including Utilities, Manufacturing, and some service-providing sectors. Sectors that contributed negative growth to the total included Construction, Wholesale and Retail Trade, along with small negative contributions from some service-providing sectors.
Including the first quarter growth, the cumulative gap between the GDP growth paths Arkansas and the U.S. continued to widen. Since the fourth quarter of 2019, Arkansas GDP has grown by 17.5% while U.S. GDP has expended by 12.0%.
