Global study shows economic growth in Tampa Bay
By Janelle Irwin
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jun 13, 2018

The Tampa Bay area jumped more than 120 spaces in a ranking of the top 300 expanding metropolitan areas worldwide, according to this year's Global Metro Monitor from the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program released Wednesday.

Brookings analyzed metropolitan areas based on an index combining employment and gross domestic product per capita growth between 2014 and 2016. Tampa ranked No. 146. In the previous report analyzing growth from 2000-16 Tampa, ranked No. 267.

The growth shows the Tampa Bay economy is expanding. Employment since 2014 has risen 3.6 percent while GDP has risen 1.4 percent, according to the study.

It's good news for local business, but represents challenges associated with rapid economic acceleration, including dealing with increasing traffic congestion and meeting the needs of a growing population through social services and community amenities.

Overall, the study found the 300 largest metropolitan areas in the world expanded faster than the global economy. Growth in those economies accounted for two-thirds of global GDP growth and more than a third of global employment growth between 2014 and 2016.

The urban surge was greatest in China, which accounts for more than a third of the world's largest metro areas. China and emerging Asia-Pacific areas experienced the fastest GDP growth in the world, with Middle Eastern and African areas growing employment fastest.

North American growth was moderate, according to the study. However, two cities in California - San Jose and San Francisco - landed in the top four of the report's performance index. The study notes those economies were largely driven by the technology sector prevalent in Silicon Valley.

The world's slowest GDP and employment growth happened in Latin America.