Projection: Hispanic consumer spending to hit $52B in Arizona by 2024
Sep 23, 2015, 5:24 PM
(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
PHOENIX — Hispanic consumers will be spending about $52 billion annually in Arizona by 2024, a projection said.
Retired Arizona State University professor Louis Olivas told the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s annual DATOS Conference on Wednesday that Hispanic consumer spending currently sits around $23.5 billion annually.
Hispanic households bring in about $57,000 per year, Olivas said. They typically spend most of that money on medical services, cars, food and clothing.
“Our (Hispanic’s) greatest concern in investment — at 31 percent compared to 18 percent of the general population — is investing in education,” Olivas said.
Hispanics account for 17 percent of the state’s total spending power, trailing only New Mexico, Texas and California. Despite that, Monica Villalobos with Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce said the growth of purchasing power of Hispanics in Arizona is outpacing the rest of the nation.
The projected jump in spending is due largely in part to Hispanic women, who are quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with in the state’s economy.
“Latinas have basically created their own sub-economy by creating their own businesses,” Villalobos said.
Villalobos said Arizona has seen a 70 percent increase in Hispanic-owned businesses since 2008. The demographic owned about 90,000 businesses in 2015. More than half were owned by women.
KTAR’s Martha Maurer contributed to this report.
