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Face-Lift Market

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Some people choose to undergo cosmetic surgery because of perceived economic benefits to being more attractive. Some simply feel that they will be happier if they are more attractive according to society’s standards of beauty. Today’s market size shows the amount Americans spent on face-lifts in 2010.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2010
Market Size: $845 million
Source: Abigail Tucker, “How Much is Being Attractive Worth?” Smithsonian, November 2012, page 18, also available online here.
Posted on January 4, 2013

Sales Taxes

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With so much discussion of late about taxes, mostly income taxes, we thought we’d look at another tax. This one rests particularly heavily on those at the lowest end of the income scale. It is the sales tax.

Sales taxes vary greatly from state to state and within a state from area to area. An example of this is Warren County, New York, located at the southern end of the Adirondack Mountains and encompassing the beautiful resorts surrounding Lake George. As a region for which tourism is a major economic engine, it levies its own local sales tax. Total sales taxes of 7% are collected in Warren County, 4% is a state level tax which is passed on to the state and the remaining 3% is retained by the county. Please note that this local sales tax may not be included when the U.S. Census Bureau does studies of national sales tax collections for a particular year by looking at the totals collected by each state. It depends on whether or not the state in question includes that local sales tax revenue in its summary of tax collections reported to the Census Bureau.

Today’s market size is the total collected for sales taxes in the United States by states in 2011. These sales taxes accounted in 2011 for 48.4% of the total of all taxes collected by state governments.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2011 (fiscal year)
Market size: $366.54 billion
Source: “State Government Tax Collections Summary Report: 2011,” April 12, 2012, a report from the Census Bureau available online here.
Original source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census
Posted on January 3, 2013 (still seems odd, 2013!)

Champagne

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By definition, champagne is a product of France. In order to be called champagne, a sparkling wine must be made with grapes from the Champagne region of France and must meet an additional set of requirements imposed by the Comité Interprofessionel du Vin de Champagne (CIVIC). The United Kingdom is the largest importer of champagne, followed by the United States and then Germany. U.S. imports of champagne started off the first decade of the new century averaging 18 million bottles annually, it peaked at 23.2 million bottles in 2006 and fell thereafter for three consecutive years. In 2010, champagne imports to the United States saw a small increase from prior year imports.

Today’s market size is the estimated total number of bottles of champagne exported by France in 2011.

Geographic reference: Worldwide
Year: 2011
Market size: 335 million bottles
Source: Tiffany Hsu, “Champagne Sales Surged in 2011, Booze Headed for 2012 Boost,” January 1, 2012, Los Angeles Times, available online here.
Original source: Comité Interprofessionel du Vin de Champagne and the Champagne Bureau
Posted on December 27, 2012

Christmas Decorations

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Our last post looked at Christmas trees and it got us to thinking about all the decorations that go on those trees as well as on buildings, in buildings, and all over the place. Thus, today’s market size post is an estimate of the total spent on Christmas decorations in the United States last year. As the source explains, the 2011 figure was 8% above that spent the prior year.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2011
Market size: $6 billion
Source: Joe Mont, “$6 Billion for Christmas Lights?” MSN Money, December 12, 2011, available online here.
Original source: National Retail Federation and BIG Research.
Posted on December 19, 2012

Christmas Tree Farming

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The sale of natural trees for use as Christmas trees has been on the decline in the United States for some time. Most likely, the decline in numbers of trees sold annually has more to do with the rise in the use of artificial trees than to an overall decline in households and establishments decorating trees for the season. In 2009, Christmas tree production in the United States was down 60% from its pace just seven years earlier, in 2002 (a U.S. Economic Census year) when 20.8 million trees were grown for sale.

Today’s market size is the number of Christmas trees grown for sale in the United States in 2009 and their approximate value that year.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2009
Market size: 12.9 million trees valued at $248.9 million.
Source: Dan Burden and J.S. Isaacs, “Christmas Tree Profile,” AgMRC, March 2012, available online here.
Original source: Agricultural Marketing Resource Center, Census of Horticultural Specialties, USDA and the National Christmas Tree Association.
Posted on December 17, 2012

World Cement Market

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Cement production in the world is dominated by China, whose production in 2011 accounted for 53.7% of all cement made globally. The third largest cement company in the world is China National Building Materials Company Limited often seen abbreviated as CNBM. Chinese companies also account for 7 additional companies on the 2011 list of the top 20 cement companies globally. The top two companies on that list are Lafarge (from France) and Holcim (from Switzerland).

Today’s market size is the total number of metric tons of cement produced worldwide in 2011, a number which represents a 9% increase on the 2010 figure.

Geographic reference: Worldwide
Year: 2011
Market size: 3.6 billion metric tons
Source: “Top 20 Global Cement Companies,” Global Cement Magazine, December 2012, page 14.
Original source: European Cement Association
Posted on December 13, 2012

Tablets versus e-Readers

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Two relatively new devices in the world of mobile, electronic devices are often compared. They do similar things and yet, they are not the same. These are tablets and e-readers. Because tablets tend to offer more functionality than do e-readers, one of those functions being to serve as an e-Reader, the sales for these devices are often compared. And, in recent years, tablets have been steadily outselling e-readers.

Today’s market size post is the number of tablets and e-readers sold around the world in 2010 and a projection of that market for next year, 2013.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2010 and 2013 projection
Market size: Tablets: 19 million units and 172 million respectively
Market size: e-Readers: 13 million units and 18 million respectively
Source: Felix Richter, “Are Tablets Killing E-Readers?” Statista.com, July 12, 2012, available online with an interesting chart here.
Original source: IDC, MIC
Posted on December 11, 2012

Bubble Gum

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Today we look at the market for bubble gum and in particular the estimated value of sales of bubble gum in the U.S. domestic market this year.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2012 estimate
Market size: $206.9 million
Source: Andrew Adam Newman, “Change Comes to Playground Funny Papers,” New York Times, November 30, 2012, page B3.
Original source: Euromonitor International
Posted on December 7, 2012

Formal Wear & Costume Rental Services

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Formal Wear Rentals and GDP

The service sector of the U.S. economy is divided into many subsectors, one of which is the Rental and Leasing Services sector, designated in the North American Classification System with the number 532. This subsector covers activities as diverse as car rental firms, the leasing of office equipment, and the rental of formal wear and costumes. Today’s market size post looks at the last of these items, the business of renting formal wear and costumes, which has held its own over time but has not kept up with the growth of the economy generally.

The graph shows revenue for businesses engaged in renting formal wear and costumes from 1997 through 2010 and by way of comparison, the gross domestic product is presented on the graph as a line.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2010
Market size: $899 million
Source: “Table 5.1. Real Estate and Rental Leasing Services (NAICS 53)—Estimated Revenue for Employer Firms: 2002 Through 2010,” February 2, 2012, one of the tables in the 2012 Service Annual Survey, available from the Census Bureau website here. Data used in the graph come from earlier editions (2003) of the Service Annual Survey, available from the Census website here.
Original source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census
Posted on December 5, 2012

Fish Oil

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Fish oil is a commodity derived from the tissues of oily fish. This oil contains high levels of the Omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) which is part of the reason that offerings of fish oil as a dietary supplement have seen growing popularity. Today’s market size is the volume and value, at a wholesale level, of fish oil production in the United States in 2010.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2010
Market size: 136.4 million pounds or 17.6 million gallons valued at $30.1 million
Source: “Fisheries of the United States–2010,” August 2011, page 42, available online from the National Marine Fisheries Service website, here.
Original source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office of Science and Technology, National Marine Fisheries Service USDA
Posted on December 3, 2012

College Enrollment

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While we at ECDI don’t really see education as a market-driven endeavor, there is no question that educational services are an important part of the U.S. economy. Public expenditures on education account for between 5% and 6% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually, as measured in value added. Educational services in the private sector account for another 1% to 1.5% of GDP. Today we look at enrollment in post-secondary educational institutions of all sorts in the United States as our market.

Several interesting details about 2011 college enrollment in the United States are these: of the total enrolled, more than half were females (55.2% versus 44.8%); most were full-time (73%); most were enrolled in public institutions (79%), and slightly more than half of the students were employed, either part-time (27.5%) or full-time (25.7%). For anyone interested in more details about this “market,” the source from which we obtained today’s market size—link provided below—offers a very detailed breakdown of college enrollment in the United States, by demographic characteristics as well as by type of institution and by years in school.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2011
Market size: 20.4 million
Source: “Table 5. Type of College and Year Enrolled for College Students 15 Years Old and Over, by Age, Sex, Race, Attendance Status, Control of School, Disability Status, and Enrollment Status: October 2011,” part of the Current Population Survey series produced and made available to us all by the U.S. Census Bureau on their website here.
Original source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau.
Posted on November 30, 2012

Bioinformatics

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Over the last decade bioinformatics has been characterized by the mapping of many genomes. This has fueled explosive growth in the field generally, growth which is anticipated to continue into the future.

Bioinformatics, in the most basic sense, is the application of information technology to the life sciences to increase the understanding of biological and chemical processes. It is the study of the methods for storing, retrieving and analyzing biological data, a wealth of which is growing rapidly and thus feeding demand for more bioinformatics. Fields that benefit from the output of bioinformatics are many, including especially agricultural biotechnology, pharmaceutical research and development, and medical and clinical diagnostics.

Today’s market size is the estimated value of this hybrid industry in 2012 and a projected value for 2018.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2012 and 2018
Market size: $2.3 billion and $9.1 billion respectively
Source: “Global Bioinformatics Market is Expected to Reach USD 9.1 Billion in 2018: Transparency Market Research,” The Herald, November 28, 2012, a link to which is here.
Original source: Transparency Market Research, whose study on this industry may be purchased on their website here.
Posted on November 28, 2012

Cranberries

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Today we look at cranberries, one of the ingredients of a traditional Thanksgiving Day meal in the United States. The market we present here is the size, measured in barrels, of U.S. cranberry production annually over four decades.

We hope that as the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend proceeds in the United States, that all of our visitors have many reasons to give thanks this year.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010
Market size: 2.70, 3.44, 5.84, and 6.81 million barrels respectively
Source: “Cranberries—2012 Cranberry Production Down Slightly,” August 14, 2012, and earlier reports on cranberry production, all produced and made available by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Services. The Annual reports on cranberry production are listed on the USDA’s website here.
Original source: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Posted on November 21, 2012

Used Car Dealers

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U.S. Used Car Dealer Sales, 1992-2011

The U.S. auto industry was hit particularly hard by the last recession and financial crisis. For those selling used cars, the recession was less severe than for car manufacturers and new car dealers. As an industry, used car dealers saw a downturn in sales for two years (2008 and 2009) but by 2011 had completely recovered and exceeded their pre-recession sales while new car dealers were still 10% off of their 2007 peak sales.

The graph shows annual sales for U.S. used car dealers from 1992 through 2011. As can be seen in the graph, while the used car industry can usually weather a recession well, as demand for used cars is less impacted by an overall downturn than are sales of new cars, the recession from late 2007 through 2009 was not a “normal” recession. Financial system crises, as the one that started in 2008, lead to more severe and long-term troubles for the economy and they even impact industries that are immune to cyclical recessions.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2011
Market size: $82.07 billion
Source: “Estimates of Monthly Retail and Food Services Sales by Kind of Business: 2011,” Monthly Retail Trade Report, November 14, 2012, data for the NAICS industry 44112. The graph was sourced from the same report as well as the Annual Retail Trade Survey 2010, March 30, 2012. Both reports are available online at the Census Bureau website.
Original source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census
Posted on November 19, 2012

Breaded Shrimp

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Today’s market size is the weight and value of breaded shrimp produced in the United States in 2010.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2010
Market size: 123.6 million pounds at an estimated wholesale value of $583.7 million dollars
Source: “Fisheries of the United States–2010,” August 2011, page 42, available online from the National Marine Fisheries Service website, here.
Original source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office of Science and Technology, National Marine Fisheries Service, USDA
Posted on November 16, 2012

Floor Covering Store Sales

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Floor Covering Stores Sales, 1992--2011

Today’s market size is the volume of sales made through U.S. stores whose primary line is floor coverings. Sales peaked in 2006 at $23.15 billion before falling sharply as the housing bubble burst and the financial crisis took a toll on all retailers. The sales shown here do not include the sale of floor coverings made through general merchandising stores. The impact over the last decades of the growth in sales of floor coverings through such outlets is part of what is seen in the trajectory of sales shown in the graph.

The graph shows annual sales through Floor Covering Stores in the United States from 1992 through 2011. The data for 2011 are preliminary and come from a separate Census Bureau report than the data for the rest of the years shown.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 1992, 2006 and 2011
Market size: $10.50, $23.15 and $14.74 billion respectively
Source: “Estimated Annual Sales of U.S. Retail and Food Services Firms by Kind of Business: 1992 Through 2010,” Annual Retail Trade Survey 2010, March 30, 2012, and “Monthly Retail Trade and Food Services,” October 15, 2012, both reports are from the U.S. Census Bureau and available at the agency’s website here.
Original source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census
Posted on November 14, 2012

Portable Generators

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The recent hurricane that did so much damage along the northeastern coast of the United States has caused a spike in the sale of portable generators that convert fuel—gasoline, diesel, natural gas, propane, etc.—into electric power. These systems are often referred to as Gensets and two of the leading manufacturers of such systems are Cummins and Caterpillar. Today’s market size is the value of the portable generator market worldwide in 2011 and the forecasted value by 2020.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2011 and 2020
Market size: $12 billion and $22.3 billion respectively
Source: “Research and Markets: Diesel and Gas Generator, 2012 – Global Market Size, Segmentation and Equipment Market Share to 2020,” BusinessWire, August 30, 2012, available online here.
Original source: GlobalData
Posted on November 12, 2012

Polling Services

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The long political campaign season is finally over in the United States. One of the striking aspects of this year’s campaign cycle was the seemingly endless supply of new polling data, from multiple sources on a daily basis.

Today’s market size is the size of the revenues for the polling services industry in the United States, in 2002 and 2010. The industry is defined, within the North American Industrial Classification System, as follows: “This industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in systematically gathering, recording, tabulating, and presenting marketing and public opinion data.” Its industry code is 541910. The sorts of services provided by this industry include:

Broadcast media rating services
Marketing analysis services
Marketing research services
Opinion research services
Political opinion polling services
Public opinion polling services
Public opinion research services
Statistical sampling services

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2002 and 2010
Market size: $10.89 billion and $16.74 billion respectively
Source: “Table 6.1. Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (NAICS 54) – Estimated Revenue for Employer Firms: 2002 Through 2010,” 2010 Service Annual Survey, February 2, 2012, available online from the Census Bureau’s website.
Original source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census
Posted on November 9, 2012

Tuna

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Tuna fish, in the form of canned tuna, is a staple of the U.S. diet and is the largest of the canned fish markets by both weight and value. Today’s market size is the production in 2010 of canned tuna in the United States.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2010
Market size: 395.4 million pounds at an estimated wholesale value of $723.8 million dollars
Source: “Fisheries of the United States–2010,” August 2011, page 42, available online from the National Marine Fisheries Service website, here.
Original source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office of Science and Technology, National Marine Fisheries Service, USDA
Posted on November 6, 2012

Commodity Contract Dealers

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Commodity Contract Dealers Industry 1997-2010

With the growth of globalization and the rise in consumption levels in many parts of the world, the cost of basic commodities has been on a strongly upward trajectory but one with great fluctuations. Such fluctuations in commodity prices tend to favor attempts to trade in futures by way of limiting the uncertainty of volatile prices. The services of commodity contract dealers have been in high demand and they have done quite well. The growth in both revenue and employment in the commodity contracts business shows how it has survived the recession and financial crisis of 2007–2009 far better than most industries.

The graphic presents annual revenue and payroll for Commodity Contract Dealers [NAICS 523130] in the United States from 1997 through 2010. Over this period, industry revenues grew by a very healthy 290% and payroll grew by an even more impressive 549%. In 1997, payroll accounted for 15% of revenue for this industry. In 2010 payroll accounted for 25% of revenue, off from a high of 34.5% of revenue reached in 2008. The total number employed by this industry also grew over the period 1997–2010, by 152%, from 4,519 to 11,400.

Today’s market size is the total industry revenue generated by commodity contract dealers in the United States in 2010.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2010
Market size: $8.75 billion
Source: Economic Census reports on the NAICS industry 523130 from the 1997, 2002, and 2007 Economic Censuses. The 2003 and 2010 editions of the Service Annual Survey, “Table 4.1. Finance and Insurance (NAICS 52) — Estimated Revenue fro Employer Firms.” All of these reports are available online from the Census Bureau’s website here.
Original source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census
Posted on November 1, 2012