Consumer spending facts for kids

Consumers can buy a huge range of goods and services at shopping malls.

Consumer spending, consumption, or consumption expenditure is when people buy goods and services. It is the biggest part of aggregate demand in macroeconomics. There are two parts of consumer spending: induced consumption (which is changed by the level of income) and autonomous consumption (which is not).

Data

United States

In the United States, the Consumer Spending figure published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis includes three big categories of personal spending.

• Durable goods: motor vehicles and parts, furniture and durable household equipment, recreational goods and vehicles, and other durable goods.
• Nondurable goods: food and drinks bought to consume in a place different from where it was bought, clothes and shoes, gasoline and other energy goods, and other nondurable goods.
• Services: housing and utilities, healthcare, transportation services, recreation services, food services and accommodations, financial services and insurance, and other services.

Images for kids

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  Household spending United States

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  Consumer Expenditure per Person Surveys (CE) 2019 Annual Report Data