NOV 25 AMERICA REMAINS TOP CONSUMER MARKET

NOV 25 AMERICA REMAINS TOP CONSUMER MARKET

In the United States, today is BLACK FRIDAY. It's the single day when Americans buy more products than any other day on the calendar. Our international readers might be confused, so here's a quick primer: Once a religious holiday, Christmas in the USA has evolved into an explosion of materialism. In short, to celebrate properly, you must buy a gift for everyone you know...from your spouse to the custodian at work. To "save" money, smart shoppers know the best holiday sales begin on the first shopping day after Thanksgiving, or Black Friday.

Just how enormous has BLACK FRIDAY become? Let's check out the stats. One in three Americans...about 108 million people...will hit the malls on this one day. They'll spend an average of $289 dollars each. In total, this means around $50 billion being spent in American stores in a 24-hour span. Wow! That's more than some nations make all year long. Just how much do Americans love to buy things? Let's dig deeper.

As the largest consumer market in the world, the US accounts for a whopping 29% of the world's commercial expenditures. Next, consider this: America only represents 5% of the world's population. Do the math: We buy six times more cars, phones, toys, athletic apparel, etc. than anyone else in the world. And we still can't get enough. Projections are for more consumer spending this holiday season and on into next year.

Despite these projections, the United States' place atop the global marketplace list will not last forever. China, currently in third place, will pass #2 Japan next year on the world's largest consumer market rankings. With a sixth of the world's population, the Chinese people simply need to buy more of the products they already make. While this has historically been a problem (the Opium Wars), a new generation is buying more and saving less. It's difficult to get clear stats from the PRC, but most economists believe China will surpass the USA in overall spending by the year 2019.

Don't despair, American shoppers! There is still one statistic the USA will always top: Per-capita household spending. Simply put, if everyone in China spent money like Americans do, this wouldn't be an issue. But each house in the USA buys fifteen times more than the citizens of the People's Republic do. The downside is that American savings accounts pale to our counterparts in Europe and the Orient. But who cares? Let's stop reading silly blogs and start swiping our credit cards at the shopping mall!!