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from https://www.visualcapitalist.com/americas-19-trillion-consumer-economy-in-one-chart/#google_vignette

America’s $19 Trillion Consumer Economy in One ChartPublished 1 week ago
on April 16, 2025
By Pallavi Rao
Graphics/Design:
Anna Diederichs

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.
Use This Visualization

America’s $19 Trillion Consumer Economy in One Chart
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Key Takeaways
America’s consumer class spent nearly $19 trillion on goods and services
in 2023.
Housing and utilities ($3.3T) and health care (3.1T) were the top
expenditure categories overall.
Americans spent the most money on groceries ($1.4$T) in the goods category.
To no one’s surprise, the world’s largest economy is also the world’s largest consumer economy.

But how much do Americans collectively spend on the goods and services
they need? And what items draw the largest share? We visualize data from
the Bureau of Labor Statistics for further analysis.

Where Americans Spend Their Money
America’s consumer class spent nearly $19 trillion on goods and services
in 2023.

For context, this was about 68% of the U.S. GDP that year. It was also
larger than China’s overall GDP that year as well ($17.8T).

Expenditure Type 2023 Personal
Consumption
Expenditure Category
🏠 Housing & Utilities $3.3T Services
🩺 Health care $3.1T Services
💳 Financial services
& Insurance $1.4T Services
🍽️ Food & Accommodation $1.4T Services
🎭 Entertainment $739B Services
🚕 Transportation $617B Services
🛠️ Other services $2.1T Services
🛒 Groceries & Takeout $1.4T Goods
🚗 Vehicles $750B Goods
📺 Household Furnishing $480B Goods
🏕️ Sports Vehicles
& Goods $636B Goods
👗 Clothing & Footwear $510B Goods
⛽ Gas $467B Goods
📦 Other goods $1.8T Goods

🇺🇸 Total $18.8T All

Housing and utilities ($3.3T) and health care ($3.1T) were the top
household expenditure categories overall.

Meanwhile, Americans spent the most money on groceries ($1.4T) in the
goods category.

In case these numbers seem too big to comprehend, we’ve also broken down household expenditure by year and by month.

Comparative figures may vary as insurance expenditure can sometimes be
included within a broader category (housing, transportation), or
spun-off on its own.

In a similar vein, another graphic from eight years ago provides some
other useful insights: how the share of each category’s expenditure has changed since the 1940s.

While the data isn’t as recent, other trends are visible: health care
and housing expenditure have been trending up, clothing and food have
been coming down.


The Pros and Cons of the Service Economy
Tellingly, services account for nearly 70% of America’s personal
consumption expenditure.

This is matched by the supply side as well: nearly 80% of America’s jobs
are in the service sector.

America’s transition away from manufacturing into services—both as
producer and consumer—is a story with many episodes and arcs. While it
has driven the growth of high-value technology and financial companies,
it has also resulted in the loss of blue-collar jobs in America.

This context is particularly relevant in the Trump administration’s second-term.

Broad-based tariffs on imported goods have been declared to reduce trade deficits and to incentivize companies to move their manufacturing back
into the country. However, modern manufacturing is built off global
supply chains and just-in-time shipping, and economists worry that the disruption will only raise prices for Americans.

Learn More on the Voronoi App
Wondering what China’s economy looks like broken down by sector? Check
out: China’s $18.6 Trillion Economy in One Chart for a quick overview.

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