Consumption in the United States

Main article: US economy

Salaries

Main article: Salaries in the United States

2024: Consumer spending - $19.4 trillion a year

The American market is the largest and most developed consumer market in the world, so it is interesting to assess the structure of consumer spending. The data is given at par to eliminate the controversial aspects of price index manipulation - real cash flows are important, not virtual indicators.

The detail of the primary data from BEA is curious and allows you to estimate the market capacity.

Consumer spending for the year of 2 square meters. 24 are estimated at 19.4 trillion, including goods 6.3 trillion (32.3% in the structure of expenditures) and, accordingly, services - 13.1 trillion.

Durable goods account for 2.2 trillion, including:

• Expenses for cars and components - 726 billion, of which new cars - 376 billion, secondary market - 224 billion, components and accessories - 126 billion.
• Furniture and household goods - 476 billion, furniture and home interior items - 274 billion, household and kitchen appliances - 85 billion, dishes, kitchen accessories - 55 billion, tools and equipment for the house and garden - 60 billion.
• Entertainment goods and equipment - 702 billion, of which all digital, computer and multimedia equipment, including software - 432 billion (computers and components - 99 billion + software for 236 billion, and TV - 36 billion), sporting goods and equipment - 128 billion, sports vehicles - 103 billion (motorcycles - 21 billion, bicycles - 7 billion, small boats, boats - 29 billion), musical instruments - 9 billion, entertainment books - 32 billion.
• Other goods - 281 billion, of which jewelry and watches - 101 billion, therapeutic and medical products with the exception of pharma - 92 billion, educational literature - 9 billion, mobile phones and communications - 34 billion.

Non-essential goods - 4.1 trillion, including:

• Product category - 1.6 trillion, of which food - 1.24 trillion, drinks - 140 billion, alcohol - 226 billion, and tobacco - 116 billion.
• Personal hygiene and cosmetics - 197 billion, where cosmetics - 70 billion, personal hygiene and care items - 115 billion, electrical equipment for body care - 12 billion.
• Household chemicals, disposable household goods, cleaning and cleaning products - 187 billion.
• Clothes and shoes - 528 billion, of which clothes - 411 billion, and shoes - 117 billion, women spend 1.7 times more on clothes and shoes than men.
• Fuel category - 465 billion, of which fuel - 439 billion, oils and other types of lubricants and funds - 26 billion.
• Pharma and disposable medical supplies - 667 billion, where pharma - 659 billion.
• Consumer goods and flowers - 318 billion, toys and so on - 130 billion, goods for animals - 111 billion, flowers - 75 billion.
• Press, periodicals and media, stationery - 117 billion, where the media - 86 billion.

Services form almost 2/3 in the structure of consumer spending, and this is an impressive 13.1 trillion, from which expenses are formed?

The largest expense is housing costs, but this is a very manipulative category.

• The costs of housing and housing and communal services are $3.5 trillion, but $2.3 trillion is imputed rent, a term that refers to the hypothetical rent that the owner of a residential building could receive if he rented out his house. Actual lease payments are only $677 billion, and housing and communal services costs are $453 billion, where electricity is $258 billion, gas is $61 billion, water supply is $93 billion, waste disposal is $42 billion.

It should be borne in mind that 2.3 trillion is a virtual, fake indicator that is used to assess the contribution of real estate to GDP, which, in fact, does not exist. Also, this calculation is used to offset the volatility of the homeownership structure and make GDP less sensitive to changes in the housing ownership structure.

• The cost of medicine is 3.2 trillion, where outpatient services are 1.5 trillion (the fattest item is dentistry, which takes 185 billion), and inpatient services are 1.48 trillion, nursing homes - 249 billion.
• Transport services - 630 billion, where car repair - 341 billion, car leasing/rental - 104 billion, public transport - 289 billion, where aviation takes the most - 207 billion.

It is curious that there is almost no railway transport in the United States for the population - 1.5 billion, there is all revenue exclusively commercial, intercity buses - 1 billion, taxis - 23 billion, intra-city public transport - 19 billion.

• Catering - 1.22 trillion.
• Hotels - 206 billion, where educational hostels - 43 billion.
• Communication services - 314 billion, where the phone - 181 billion, the Internet - 116 billion, mail and couriers - 18 billion.
• Entertainment services - 754 billion, where culture, sports and entertainment, leisure - 284 billion, casinos and lotteries - 200 billion, audio, video and photos - 163 billion, where paid TV - 83 billion, video and audio streaming - 60 billion. This includes veterinarians and animal care - 80 billion.
• Financial services and insurance - 1.42 trillion, where financial services - 922 billion, and insurance - 495 billion.
• Education - 346 billion, where higher education - 204 billion, and advanced education services and additional sectoral education - 81 billion.
• Professional and legal services - 278 billion, where legal services - 129 billion, and tax consultants - 57 billion.
• Personal care and dry cleaning services - 214 billion, where personal hygiene services (hairdressers, massage therapists, makeup artists, stylists) - 193 billion.
• Household services, repair and transportation of goods - 111 billion, where transportation - 21 billion, household services - 39 billion, repair - 13 billion, other types of services - 38 billion.
• Travel abroad - 226 billion.
• Social assistance, care services, religious and public organizations - 314 billion, where childcare - 60 billion, social assistants - 214 billion, religious organizations - 9 billion, public organizations - 23 billion.

2023

Poultry meat is the most consumed type of meat

The most consumed type of meat (including fish and seafood) according to data available for June 2023.

Historical record of consumption due to state support

Spending on goods and services in real terms per capita in the United States showed a new historical maximum in April 2023, i.e. demand remains very strong.

Source: Spydell Finance

Since December 2019, the change in spending is insignificant - only plus 5.2%, but returned to the 2010-2019 trend. The resource is the depletion of savings from 8.7% to 4.3%, tax cuts and lending, Spydell Finance wrote.

About 5.2 percentage points in support of expenses is provided by the savings rate, which decreased from 8.8 to 3.6% on average in 2019 and over the past 12 months, and if we estimate 4 sq. 2019 with the last three months (February-April 2023), savings decreased by 4.4 percentage points from 8.7 to 4.3%.

The lending factor formed in 2021-2022 about 1.5 percentage points. additional demand, but from September 2022 the pace of lending to individuals decreases sharply with a tendency to reduce from March 2023, i.e. the lending factor cannot act as a support in the new reality.

The state, as usual, saves. Net state support for the population increased by 2.8 percentage points. relative to the income of the population from September 2022 to April 2023.

Net state support is considered as the total volume of all targeted state programs in favor of the population minus all that the state withdraws from the population (all types of taxes and fees, including contributions to the state social insurance fund from cash flow in the wage fund).

Net state support for the population shows a measure of the rigidity of fiscal policy regarding the population. From a rather tough policy from February to August 2022, they began to soften again, but not much.

The current fiscal policy corresponds to the average values ​ ​ from 2013 to 2019, but about ¾ of the increase in real disposable income of the population over the past 9 months was associated with tax maneuvers, states so the state is back in business and saves consumer demand from collapse.

2022: Vegetarian share increases to 5.1%

Data for 2022

See also

• Consumption in Russia