Interwar period: manufacturing index in selected American countries 1923-1944

From the 1920s until the Second World War, industrial output in the major economies of the Americas fluctuated greatly. Using manufacturing output in 1938 as a benchmark, the U.S. had fairly consistent output throughout the 1920s, before there was a significant drop after the Wall Street Crash in 1929 - by 1932, output fell to around two thirds of its 1929 level, and it would take another five years to recover thereafter. After the Recession of 1937-38, manufacturing output then doubled by the early-1940s, as the U.S. ramped up armament before it joined the Second World War. Output in 1943 was almost three times higher than it had been in 1938.

Canada's industrial output followed a similar trend to that of the U.S., whereas Mexico saw comparatively little change across the given period. Similar to Mexico, Brazil's manufacturing output was not drastically affected by the Great Depression, although Brazil saw the largest relative growth over the given period, with output in 1944 over five times higher than it had been in the mid-1920s - it should be noted, however, that both Latin American countries' manufacturing industries were at a much lower stage of development than the North American industries during this time.