Intangible Capital Turns Over Much Faster
Annual depreciation as a share of year-end net stock · U.S. private nonresidential assets · 1925–2024. In 2024, depreciation equaled 24.4% of recorded IP stock, versus 13.7% for equipment and 2.8% for structures.
What does it show?
In 2024, depreciation equaled 24.4% of recorded IP stock, versus 13.7% for equipment and 2.8% for structures.
Methodology
Divide annual current-cost depreciation by year-end current-cost net stock for each private nonresidential asset class. The result is an accounting depreciation burden relative to the remaining recorded stock, not an observed failure rate or exact service life. Limitations: BEA's intellectual-property category covers software, R&D, and artistic originals—not brands, organizational capital, customer relationships, data, or every economically valuable intangible. Current-cost values combine quantity and price change; these charts do not measure real growth unless explicitly stated. BEA revises Fixed Assets history; the generator pins the workbook vintage and reruns component and period checks. Depreciation-to-net-stock ratios are accounting constructs shaped by BEA service-life and depreciation assumptions; they should not be interpreted as literal physical decay.