BilCom Group •  302.539.3763 •  editors@bilcomgroup.com

Quick Facts About the U.S. Hispanic Market

With a growing base and expanding disposable income, the bottom line is that you can’t afford to ignore this population.

And because Hispanics rely on the Internet to learn more about products, to share opinions, and to improve their lives this is a prime market for information products – and one that is still untapped. Read 10 interesting facts.

How many Hispanics live in the United States?

• In the United States, 14.5 percent of the population is Hispanic – over 40 million people. This population makes up the nation's largest minority group.
  

• The Selig Center for Economic Growth estimated that in 2007, Hispanics would control more disposable personal income than any other U.S. minority group.  In the next three years, Hispanic buying power is expected to grow to more than $1.2 trillion.
  

• The U.S. is the 5th largest Spanish-speaking country in the world. The 44.3 million Hispanics living in the U.S. come from several Latin American countries:  66 percent come from Mexico, 15 percent  com from Central and South America, 9 percent  come from Puerto Rico. 6 percent  come from other countries, while 4 percent  come from Cuba.
  

What’s their language preference?

• About 47 percent of this population is Spanish dominant, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.
  

• Forrester Research reports that 51 percent of online U.S. Hispanics users prefer Spanish-language Web sites and 23 percent need Spanish content online. Forrester goes on to cite that 49 nine percent of Hispanic adults – or 13.9 million people – are online at least monthly, up from 45 percent of Hispanics.
  

Are they online and new media users?

• Hispanic families also go online at home for an average of 9.2 hours a week. That’s compared with 8.5 hours for the general online population. There are over 16 million Hispanic Internet users in the United States.
  

• Some Hispanics who do not use the Internet are connecting in a different way – via cell phone. Fully 59 percent of Hispanic adults have a cell phone and 49 percent of Hispanic cell phone users send and receive text messages on their phone.
  

• Information gathering has become a habit for many Hispanics. They rely heavily on the health care information they access through media sources and 79 percent of respondents said they act on this information, according to a 2008 Pew Hispanic Center report.
  

What type of entrepreneurial growth do you see in this market?

• The number of Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States is expected to grow 41.8 percent in the next six years to 4.3 million, with total revenues surging 39 percent to more than $539 billion, according to new estimates by HispanTelligence. Spurred by growing entrepreneurial trends and affluence among the nation’s largest minority population, the increase is expected to come at a robust rate of 8.5 and 8.7 percent, respectfully, over the next couple of years.
  

What are other benefits of developing Spanish-language content?

• Beyond the U.S., 350 million people worldwide speak Spanish. Market studies also indicate that Hispanics show stronger brand loyalty than other population groups, especially to organizations that respect their cultural identity.
  

DOWNLOAD A PDF VERSION

OF THIS ARTICLES