Hispanic buying power a major piece of Arizona’s economy that’s only expected to grow

PHOENIX — Hispanic purchasing power in Arizona reached $63 billion in 2020, according to the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, topping the expected $57 billion.

While Hispanic purchasing power in Arizona was greater than expected last year, the U.S. spending power was even more significant.

“The U.S. Hispanic purchasing power reached $1.9 trillion in 2020,” Catalina Perez, research specialist with the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, told KTAR News 92.3 FM. “That number rivals the GDP of Australia or Canada.

“So when you think of GDP as the income produced by a country, U.S. Hispanics spend more than what Australia and Canada produce in GDP.”

Put another way, Perez says a Bank of America study finds that U.S. Latinos are the eighth-largest economy in the world.

“And if U.S. Hispanics were their own country they would be the 25th largest country out of the 233 recognized countries,” she said.

Not only is Hispanic purchasing power vital to the Arizona economy, the number of Hispanic-owned small businesses is also a huge cog in the state’s economic engine.

Perez said Hispanics represent 20-25% of all small businesses in Arizona that make under $2 million in average annual revenue.

“There are about 150,000 Hispanic-owned small businesses in Arizona,” she said, more than half owned by women.

Bank of America said the family values, hard work and strong health profile of Latinos in Arizona and in the U.S are a tremendous source of economic vitality.

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