Category
Recreation & Culture
Built for leisure teams deciding which markets have the money left over once the essentials are paid for, where it is arriving fastest, and who is doing the spending.
COICOP 9 · WDP 2026.2.3
Recreation and culture in numbers, 2026 to 2036
USD 4.64T
Spending in 2026
USD 6.72T
Spending in 2036
+USD 2.08T
Added by 2036
3.78%
Annual growth to 2036
USD 568
Per person a year
6.5%
Share of the global wallet
nominal USD, current prices
We map and forecast recreation and culture spending across cities.
We can identify the future city markets for recreation and culture.
Annual consumer spending on recreation and culture, 2000 to 2040.
- Tokyo: USD 59bn in 2000
- New York City: USD 40bn in 2000
- Los Angeles: USD 30bn in 2000
- Osaka: USD 25bn in 2000
- San Francisco: USD 19bn in 2000
We analyse which demographics will contribute most to that growth.
By spending tier
- Rich: 46.7% of spending in 2026, 65.4% of the spending added by 2036
- Upper middle: 16.8% of spending in 2026, 14.8% of the spending added by 2036
- Core middle: 23.7% of spending in 2026, 14.2% of the spending added by 2036
- Lower middle: 11.4% of spending in 2026, 5.1% of the spending added by 2036
- Poor: 1.5% of spending in 2026, 0.5% of the spending added by 2036
By age band
- 65 and over: 15.9% of spending in 2026, 24.6% of the spending added by 2036
- 45-65: 29.5% of spending in 2026, 28.7% of the spending added by 2036
- 30-45: 20.6% of spending in 2026, 17.0% of the spending added by 2036
- 15-30: 17.4% of spending in 2026, 16.5% of the spending added by 2036
- 0-15: 16.6% of spending in 2026, 13.2% of the spending added by 2036
We break down recreation and culture into subcategories.
Area is spending in 2026. USD 4.64T across 21 published lines of the model.
Recreational and sporting services
USD 758bn · 16.3%
Cultural services
USD 597bn · 12.9%
Information processing equipment
USD 534bn · 11.5%
Games, toys and hobbies
USD 305bn · 6.6%
Pets and related products
USD 282bn · 6.1%
Audio-visual equipment
USD 277bn · 6.0%
Package holidays
USD 258bn · 5.6%
Equipment for sport, camping and open-air recreation
USD 253bn · 5.5%
Games of chance
USD 205bn · 4.4%
Gardens, plants and flowers
USD 205bn · 4.4%
Newspapers and periodicals
USD 182bn · 3.9%
USD 155bn
Books
USD 154bn · 3.3%
USD 120bn
USD 117bn
- Veterinary and other services for petsUSD 155bn
- Major durables for outdoor recreationUSD 120bn
- Stationery and drawing materialsUSD 117bn
- Recording mediaUSD 61bn
- Musical instruments and indoor recreation equipmentUSD 58bn
- Miscellaneous printed matterUSD 56bn
- Repair of audio-visual and computing equipmentUSD 29bn
- Cameras and optical equipmentUSD 25bn
- Repair of recreation equipmentUSD 10bn
Recreational and sporting services
USD 758bn · 16.3%
Cultural services
USD 597bn · 12.9%
Information processing equipment
USD 534bn · 11.5%
Games, toys and hobbies
USD 305bn · 6.6%
Pets and related products
USD 282bn · 6.1%
Audio-visual equipment
USD 277bn · 6.0%
Package holidays
USD 258bn · 5.6%
Equipment for sport, camping and open-air recreation
USD 253bn · 5.5%
Games of chance
USD 205bn · 4.4%
Gardens, plants and flowers
USD 205bn · 4.4%
Newspapers and periodicals
USD 182bn · 3.9%
Veterinary and other services for pets
USD 155bn · 3.3%
Books
USD 154bn · 3.3%
Major durables for outdoor recreation
USD 120bn · 2.6%
Stationery and drawing materials
USD 117bn · 2.5%
Recording media
USD 61bn · 1.3%
USD 58bn
Miscellaneous printed matter
USD 56bn · 1.2%
USD 29bn
USD 25bn
- Musical instruments and indoor recreation equipmentUSD 58bn
- Repair of audio-visual and computing equipmentUSD 29bn
- Cameras and optical equipmentUSD 25bn
- Repair of recreation equipmentUSD 10bn
Five decisions a leisure team can settle with this data.
01
Market entry and prioritisation
The cities holding the most recreation and culture spending today are not the ones adding it fastest. Across the forty largest markets in the model the spread runs from 1.9% a year to 8.7%, which is the difference between a market that transforms by 2036 and one that barely moves. We rank every city on the spending that is forming rather than the spending already there.
02
Pricing and affordability
Spending on recreation and culture by rich consumers compounds at 5.00% a year, against 1.31% for the poorest. A cheaper range can hold its volume and still be defending a shrinking share of the growth, because the growth is not sitting where the volume is. We map spending power against your own price range in every market you sell in.
03
Category and portfolio strategy
Inside the category, stationery and drawing materials compounds at 4.75% a year while major durables for outdoor recreation manages 3.31%. Those are two different shelf decisions inside one category averaging 3.78%, and the average is what most portfolio reviews are still built on.
04
Segmentation and targeting
Spending on recreation and culture by the over-65s compounds at 5.42% a year, against 3.10% for the under-15s. In New York City the over-65s already hold 12% of the category. A pipeline aimed at the wrong life stage is chasing the slower half of the market, and the gap widens every year to 2036.
05
Demand forecasting and sizing
The category adds $2.08 trillion between 2026 and 2036, and none of it arrives evenly. A capacity decision taken now rests on the market that will exist in ten years rather than the one visible today. We project every market and every year to 2050.
Related categories
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