The Latino population accounts for 18% of the US population according to the National census. Given the considerable increase in Latino spending power over the past decade and their high population growth it’s rather surprising that it took this long for brand marketers to start taking it seriously as a market they could tap into. The fact that this interest in the Latino community is only hitting its peak right now, there are a lot of Latino facts marketers still don’t know about. The following is a list of Latino facts that could come in handy.

The largest groups

Mexicans form the largest Latino group in the United States with a population of 35.3 million which represents two thirds of the cumulative Latino population. Mexicans are followed by Puerto Ricans who have a much lower number of 3.5 million. Their high population can be attributed to their historic massive migration to the United States. Most other groups with the exception of Mexicans and Puerto Ricans have much lower numbers with only a few of them numbering more than a million i.e. Cubans, Dominicans, Colombians, and Salvadorans.

The low median age

According to Pew Research the median age of the Latino population currently stands at 28 years which is the lowest in the country and by far one of the most unknown Latino facts. The Latino median age is also lower than that of the United States by 9 years.

Language

According to a Nielsen report, majority of Latinos under the age of 55 are bilingual. The percentage of Latinos who are bilingual currently stands at 55% while that of Latinos under the age of 18 currently stands at 96%. 27% of Latino’s are English-dominant while a lower percentage is Spanish-dominant (19%).

Buying power

The Latino community in the United States had a buying power of $1.3 trillion in 2015; a figure that represents a figure much higher than the GDP of Australia. This figure also represents an increase of over 100% since the turn of the century. This increase can be attributed to high population growth and increased incomes amongst many Latino over the past two decades. The buying power is expected to rise to $1.7 trillion by 2020.

These Latino facts offer a glimpse into a community that is slowly beginning to hit its stride in terms of economic prosperity and making a contribution to the United States economy.