A report from the nonprofit Latino Donor Collaborative found that the total Gross Domestic Product of Latinos in the U.S. in 2017 was $2.3 trillion. If the population were an independent country, it would be the eighth largest GDP in the world, outranking Russia, Canada, Italy and Brazil. The 2019 LDC U.S. Latino GDP Report is the first follow-up to a 2017 report seeking to quantify the economic contribution of the U.S. Latino population. It was authored by Matthew Fienup and Dan Hamilton from California Lutheran University’s Center for Economic Research and Forecasting in Thousand Oaks, and David Hayes-Bautista and Paul Hsu of UCLA’s Geffen School of Medicine in Los Angeles. “Given the strong health profile, robust population growth and high Latino labor force participation detailed here, along with strong increases in educational attainment and income and personal consumption growth among Latinos, we expect that the economic growth premium that Latinos enjoy relative to Non-Latinos in the U.S. will be maintained in the years ahead,” the report stated. “Latinos currently are and will increasingly become a critical foundation of support for the new American Economy.” The report notes that Latino GDP is remarkable not just for its size, but its growth. Among the world’s 10 largest GDPs, the U.S. Latino GDP is the third fastest-growing, and the single fastest-growing of the world’s fully developed nations. The total economic output of the U.S. Latino population is growing more that 30 percent more rapidly than that of any other demographic in the U.S. Behind this strong economic performance are two key demographic factors: population growth (six times faster than that of non-Latinos) and labor force participation (67.4 percent), both of which will help prevent a severe worker shortage in the U.S. due to the next generational wave of retirement. The report debuted Thursday at the L’Attitude Conference, a four-day convention in San Diego that celebrates the Latino community’s role in growing America’s new mainstream economy.
