Despite recession, Hispanic and Asian buying power expected to surge in U.S., according to annual UGA Selig Center Multicultural Economy study

African Americans lost more than a decade’s worth of job growth, study also finds

Athens, Ga. — Although the Great Recession has hit Hispanics and Asians particularly hard, their buying power is expected to grow rapidly over the next several years, according to the annual minority buying power report released today by the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia Terry College of Business.

“Despite the recession, the underlying growth trends for Hispanics and Asians in the U.S. are still very strong,” said Jeff Humphreys, director of the Selig Center and the author of the report. “Minorities have a lot of economic clout, and these groups in particular are experiencing growth in buying power that greatly exceeds that of the general population.”

The percentage gains in buying power over the past decade have varied considerably by race and ethnicity: 108 percent for Hispanics; 98 percent for Asians; 69 percent for Native Americans; and 60 percent for African Americans. The study projects that minority markets will continue to grow much faster than the majority market, where buying power increased by 49 percent over the past decade.

The report projects that the combined buying power of racial minorities (African Americans, Asians and Native Americans) will rise from $1.6 trillion in 2010 to $2.1 trillion in 2015, accounting for 15 percent of the nation’s total buying power. The buying power of Hispanics, which are an ethnic group but not a racial group, will rise from $1 trillion in 2010 to $1.5 trillion in 2015, accounting for nearly 11 percent of the nation’s total buying power.

The report defines buying power as disposable income, or money that is available for spending after taxes. Humphreys said the report provides businesses with a valuable planning tool for judging start–up or expansion opportunities and for tailoring advertising, products and media to individual market segments.

“The Hispanic market alone, at $1 trillion, is larger than the entire economies of all but 14 countries in the world–smaller than the GDP of Canada but larger than the GDP of Indonesia,” Humphreys notes.