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Chart of the Week
6 July 2026
Millennials take the crown in 2033.
Generational spending share
The biggest wallet on earth is changing hands, on schedule.
Each line is a generation's share of global consumer spending, year by year from 2000 to 2050. Baby Boomers held the biggest wallet for the whole late twentieth century, peaking near 29% of everything the world spends. Then Gen X quietly took the crown in 2019.
The next handover is already scheduled: Millennials become the largest spending generation in 2033 and keep the title through mid-century, with Gen Z close behind. By 2050 the generations born since 1997 control 57% of all consumer spending, while the Boomer share falls to 4%.
Source: World Data Lab Consumer Model, June 2026 vintage. Shares of global household consumption expenditure, 2017 PPP, by birth cohort.
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