California is officially bigger than France
Mike Blake MB/Reuters
A surfer gets an early start on the Thanksgiving holiday as he rides a long board past the setting sun while surfing at sunset off Cardiff Beach in Cardiff, California, November 23, 2004.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis's latest data on state growth showed that the west coast state's economic output for 2015 came in at $2.46 trillion.
That number pushes California's economic output above that of France, which pumped out an estimated $2.422 trillion last year.
Somewhat notably, while France's population comes in around 66.48 million, California's is only about 39.14 million - which means that the US state produces slightly more than France with about 40% fewer people.
The only countries with higher GDP output than California now are the US as a whole, China, Japan, Germany, and the UK.
And as a side note, the BEA also estimated that California's economy grew by 5.7% in 2015 - the second highest growth rate in the US, just behind Oregon's 5.9%.
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