Watch U.S. Consumption Numbers In Real-Time by Jeff Desjardins, Visual Capitalist
Consumption makes up about 69% of the U.S. GDP. The other components of GDP are investment (17%), government spending (17%), and net exports (-3%).
U.S. Consumption numbers are so important that central banks will stop at nothing to ensure they increase. It’s the reason for record-low interest rates and quantitative easing (QE) programs. Consumption, or lack thereof, is also why the controversial concept of helicopter money is even being floated as a policy option.
U.S. Consumption in One Minute
Based on 2014 numbers, here is what is consumed every minute in the country:
- $600,000 in online sales
- $95,000 of online sales on Amazon
- $2,900,000 in credit card purchases
- 233,000 gallons of gasoline
- $150,000 of cigarettes
- $133,000 of lottery tickets
- $28,000 of books
- 340,000 apps downloaded
- $25,000 of video games
- 280,000 cups of coffee
- $115,000 of beer
- 6,000 pizzas and 20,000 hamburgers
- and even $100,000 of baby food
Watching these numbers tabulate in real-time is mesmerizing.
They are also concerning…
The fact that lottery ticket and cigarette sales tally to $280,000 every minute, and book sales are only $28,000 really puts things into perspective.
Watch U.S. Consumption Numbers In Real-Time
Advanced economies are typically heavily reliant on the domestic consumption of goods and services, and the United States is no exception. Today’s visualization shows U.S. consumption in real-time.
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