Get out your calculators and spreadsheets – it’s almost time for the 2010 U.S. Census. A big topic in previous state and national census reports has been the growth of the U.S. Hispanic population. What follows are some Hispanic demographic growth trends, from advertising spend to business ownership.

• 46 million Hispanics live in the U.S. This market segment wields a buying power that totaled more than $980 billion in 2008 and is projected to reach $1.3 billion in 2013, according to a study by market research publisher Packaged Facts.

• The number of Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States is expected to grow 41.8 percent over the next 6 years to 4.3 million (in 2012), with total revenues surging 39 percent to more than $539 billion. (Source: “Hispanic Owned Business Growth Projects to 2012,” HispanTelligence)

• Advertisers spent an estimated $3.3 billion to market their products and services to U.S. Hispanics in 2005, a 6.8 percent increase from the previous year. As Hispanics simultaneously make progress in educational attainment, their purchasing power represents an increasingly larger proportion of the U.S. total, reaching 8.9 percent in 2005. By 2010, HispanTelligence estimates that Hispanic market advertising expenditures will increase to about $4.3 billion, in an attempt to the rapidly growing U.S. Hispanic population. (Source: “U.S. Hispanic Media Market: Projections to 2010,” HispanTelligence)

• The median age of Hispanic consumers in the U.S. is 27 (vs. 40 for non-Hispanics) and they live to a median age of 83 (compared to 81 for non-Hispanics). Therefore, the Latino consumer group contributes 56 years of spending, the longest of all consumer groups in the U.S. (Source: "Seeking Growth via Hispanic Segments in a Down Economy," Cesar M. Melgoza at Hispanic Retail 360, August 2009)

• Between 2007 and 2009, the percentage of English-speaking Hispanics who reported going online via hand-held devices climbed from 18 percent to 29 percent. (Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project)

• Only four other countries (Mexico, Spain, Colombia, and Argentina) have more Spanish-speaking residents than the U.S. A recent study by Roslow Research Group (prepared for Hispanic USA, June 2005) declares that the number of Spanish-speaking Hispanics will grow by 45% during the next 20 years.

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