The Iowa Democratic Party is pointing at a new Trump administration report that shows Iowa’s economy was one of the worst in the nation in the first quarter of 2025. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Iowa’s economy shrank by 6.1 percent from 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q1, when adjusted for inflation, and was one of only two states in the nation to see its gross domestic product (GDP) contract. Iowa finished ahead of only Nebraska in the Q1 report. The analysis also shows the “agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting” category was a leading contributor to the decline. IDP Chair Rita Hart says, “Iowa, under the clique of insider Republicans in Des Moines and DC, is falling behind the rest of the country and going in the wrong direction. Instead of changing course, the Republican leaders of our state are supporting tariffs that drive up prices and close markets, voting for a budget bill that will cut trillions of dollars in health care funding threatening rural hospitals, and piling up more deficits and debt by extending huge tax breaks for the wealthy and special interests.” Industry organizations, such as the Iowa Farm Bureau (IFB), have previously cautioned that declines in farm revenues associated with tariffs and trade disputes could have downstream effects on the state’s economy.
Iowa GDP Shrinks 6.1 Percent in Q1; IDP Blames GOP Policies, Tariffs
