Recreation & Culture

Consumers spend $4.64 trillion on recreation and culture in 2026, which is 6.5% of all their spending. The market grows 3.78% a year in current dollars and reaches $6.72 trillion by 2036. Between those two years it adds $2.08 trillion.

The fastest-growing subcategory is stationery and drawing materials at 4.75% a year and the slowest is major durables for outdoor recreation at 3.31%. The category as a whole grows 3.78% a year. The two largest subcategories are recreational and sporting services at $758bn and cultural services at $597bn. Both grow more slowly than stationery and drawing materials.

New York City spends the most at $118bn a year, followed by Los Angeles at $100bn and San Francisco at $64bn. We estimate the category for all 9,400+ cities in every year to 2040. The top ten of the 252 cities on this page's map hold 34% of the spending it shows.

Among the largest city markets, Jakarta grows fastest at 8.7% a year and Osaka slowest at 1.9%. The cities adding the most spending by 2036 make a different list, led by Jakarta at $53bn, Los Angeles at $44bn and New York City at $39bn.

Yes, every market and city splits the category into five age bands and five spending tiers. Sizing the cohort you target means filtering those same figures, with nothing extra to commission. Cape Coral has the oldest profile, with 28% of its spending from the over-65s. San Rafael is the most affluent, with 99% from its richest spending tier.

We forecast every country, subcategory and cohort each year to 2050, and every city to 2040. Because one model produces all of them, a market and a city read on the same scale. The method is published and peer reviewed. Our page on how we measure spending sets it out. The average person spends $568 a year on recreation and culture today.