If the Bay Area Were a Country: World's 10th Largest Economy
Last week the San Francisco Chronicle spread word of a new report from the Bay Area Council Economic Institute and Booz & Co.:
The Bay Area Council Economic Institute website provides more information about what makes this economy unique (though here the ranking is listed as 24th, not 10th):
The Bay Area Council Economic Institute serves one of theworld’s most innovative, competitive and diverse regional economies. The successof the Bay Area economy is built on an unparalleled culture of entrepreneurship.The Bay Area competes strongly in national and international markets as aknowledge-based, innovation-led economy.
Global & National Competitiveness
With an economy of almost $300 billion, the Bay Area ranks 24th inthe world when compared to national economies. On a per capita basis, it ranksahead of all national economies, including the U.S. The region is at the cuttingedge of global technology, and is a leader in many key indicators of regional,global and national competitiveness, including:
- The nation’s largest concentration of nationallaboratories, corporate and independent research laboratories, and leadingresearch universities;
- The largest number of top-ten ranked graduate programs inbusiness, law, medicine and engineering in the nation;
- The highest density of venture capital firms in the world, with32% of total U.S. venture capital funding invested in the region;
- More Fortune 500 companies than any region exceptNew York;
- The highest internet penetration of any U.S. region;
- The highest level of patent generation in the nation, with morepatents generated per employee than any other major metropolitan area;
- The most highly educated workforce in the nation, with thehighest percentage of residents with graduate and professional degrees;
- A leading position in global trade, with exports larger thanall but one U.S. state;
- The highest economic productivity in the nation—almost twicethe U.S. average.
Nine-County Region
The nine-county Bay Area embraces San Francisco, Marin, Napa,Sonoma,Solano, Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties, and isthe only region in the nation claiming three major cities—San Francisco,Oakland and San Jose—as well as the high technology center of Silicon Valley,and the heart of Northern California’s wine country.
With a market of more than six million residents, theBay Area is California’s second largest and the nation’s fourth largestmetropolitan region.