(NewsNation) — Latinos’ economic influence is growing rapidly, so much so that if they were their own country, their economy would rank fifth largest globally, according to a new report.
The report, compiled by the Latino Donor Collaborative in partnership with Wells Fargo, measured the role of the U.S. Latino economy in the overall U.S. economy. Its findings indicate expanding Latino economic influence and a GDP valued at $3.2 trillion.
That’s compared to a $2.8 trillion GDP reported last year, a rate of growth that’s 2 1/2 times faster than their non-Latino counterparts, according to the report.
Between 2011 and 2021, U.S. Latinos’ income grew at an annualized rate of 4.7%, and their purchasing power grew at 3.9%.
“As this cohort prospers, it will also free trillions of dollars of new investment that will power the next generation of American entrepreneurship,” the report stated.
Internationally, the “Latino GDP” is growing at a rate surpassed only by China and India. Domestically, Latino economies in states such as California, Texas and Florida are making strides too. California alone would rank as the 21st-largest in the world, between Poland and Switzerland, according to the report.
The largest industrial component of the U.S. Latino economy is public administration. It accounted for $438.8 billion of added value in 2021, followed by manufacturing, rental and leasing, health care and social assistance and wholesale trade.
Fidel Martinez, the editorial director for De Los — a Latino-focused arm of the Los Angeles Times — noted in a recent newsletter that the report “does a great job at making the case for investing in Latinx communities” but went on to say, “It can be a slippery slope to tie our worth to our economic output.”
