In an increasingly interdependent economy, the work, talent, and consumption of the immigrant community not only move the country — they sustain it. According to the new report “U.S. Latino GDP Report 2025,” Latinos generated $4.1 trillion of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2023 — 14.8% of the national total — and their consumption reached $2.7 trillion, an unprecedented figure.
The study, prepared by the Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the Center for Economic Research and Forecasting at California Lutheran University (Cal Lutheran), notes that “Latinos are today the most dynamic engine of growth in the U.S. economy.”
Between 2010 and 2023, real Latino consumption grew 2.6 times faster than that of non-Latinos, driven by a sustained increase in income, educational advancement, and greater labor participation.
During that period, the real wage income of the Latino population increased 61.5%, compared to 21.4% among non-Latinos.
The result is striking: if the Latino community were an independent nation, its economy would rank fifth in the world, ahead of India, France, or Brazil. Its purchasing power of $2.7 trillion represents a market 20% larger than Italy’s economy and 24% larger than Brazil’s.
The study attributes this rise to a “growth premium,” the result of educational progress and historically high labor participation. Between 2010 and 2023, the number of Latinos with a college degree grew 3.1 times faster than among non-Latinos.
The Latino labor force reached 35.1 million workers in 2023, with an increase of 5.5% in just the last year. Latinos are 6.1 percentage points more likely to be employed or looking for work than the rest of the population, the highest level of labor participation in the country’s history.
“Latinos continue to contribute solidly and consistently to the population and workforce of the United States. These trends amplify their economic impact and reinforce the importance of Latino GDP growth for the country’s sustained development,” the report concludes.
Paradoxically, this growth has occurred amid anti-immigrant policies and rhetoric that have sought to minimize or criminalize migration, especially during the Donald Trump administration, which promoted the deportation of thousands of Latino workers.
However, the report’s data show that the migrant community — particularly Mexicans and Central Americans — are an economic backbone for sectors such as construction, manufacturing, agriculture, and services, and that they are also raising their educational level and participation in high-tech and healthcare sectors.
In real terms, the Latino GDP has grown more than twice the national average over the past 13 years, showing that its impact is not circumstantial but structural.
California concentrates a crucial part of this expansion. The state is home to more than 15 million Latinos, almost 40% of its population, and generates one of the largest state economies in the world.
Latinos in California alone contributed more than $1 trillion to the state’s GDP in 2023, according to the report’s data.
Researchers emphasize that the educational and labor progress of Latinos in California is “quietly transforming the economic structure of the state,” driving emerging sectors such as clean energy, technological innovation, and the knowledge economy.
The magnitude of Latino consumption is reshaping the strategies of major U.S. corporations, which have begun to see this community not only as a demographic segment but as a determining force in the economic and cultural direction of the country.
From consumer goods and housing to financial services and entertainment, Latino influence is now a decisive factor for leading corporations.
“Latino economic growth is not a coincidence, but the result of decades of effort, social mobility, and sustained contribution to all the productive sectors of the country,” note the report’s authors, economist Dan Hamilton (Cal Lutheran) and anthropologist David Hayes-Bautista (UCLA).
Beyond the numbers, the U.S. Latino GDP Report 2025 reveals a story of resilience and collective contribution. Most Latinos in the United States are of Mexican, Salvadoran, Guatemalan, and Puerto Rican origin — generations who arrived with little but today move the most powerful economy on the planet.
While the political debate revolves around walls, borders, and deportations, the numbers show another reality, namely that migrants and their descendants uphold the economic foundations of a country that often discriminates against them.
Related: Immigrants Suffer Psychological Torture in U.S. Detention Centers, Harvard and PHR Study Finds
Mexican Press Agency is part of ALMA, which is dedicated to news and information about Mexico and Mexicans in the United States and is a fiscally sponsored project of Social Focus, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Redwood City, California.
