As long as the U.S. Department of Commerce, under the Bureau of Economic Analysis, has tracked the nation's gross domestic product (GDP), consumer spending has been the very underpinning of the economy. Consumers' insatiable appetite to buy has contributed between 60 and 70 percent of the GDP since 1929, with only a slight downturn to about 50 percent during the war years of the 1940s. In 1929, 1930, and 1940, personal consumption as a percentage of GDP topped 70 percent, demonstrating the long-standing foundational role consumer spending has played in the American economy, as displayed in Figure 1.1.
YEAR | GDP | PERSONAL CONSUMPTION | PERCENT OF TOTAL ECONOMY |
---|---|---|---|
1929 | $ 103.7 | $ 77.5 | 74.7% |
1930 | 91.3 | 70.2 | 76.9 |
1940 | 101.3 | 71.2 | 70.3 |
1950 | 294.3 | 192.7 | 65.5 |
1960 | 527.4 | 332.3 | 63.0 |
1970 | 1039.7 | 648.9 | 62.4 |
1980 | 2795.6 | 1762.9 | 63.1 |
1990 | 5803.2 | 3831.5 | 66.0 |
1995 | 7397.7 | 4975.8 | 67.3 |
1996 | 7816.9 | 5256.8 | 67.2 |
1997 | 8304.3 | 5547.4 | 66.8 |
1998 | 8747.0 | 5879.5 | 67.2 |
1999 | 9268.4 | 6282.5 | 67.8 |
2000 | 9817.0 | 6739.4 | 68.7 |
2001 | 10100.8 | 7045.4 | 69.8 |
2002 | 10480.8 | 7358.3 | 70.5 |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis |