July 02, 2003 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Entertainment expenditures, 2000

In 2000, consumers in the lowest income quintile spent close to $14 billion on entertainment, while consumers in the highest income quintile spent close to $63 billion.

[Chart data—TXT]

Aggregate entertainment spending by consumers in the middle three income quintiles was $18, $26, and $37 billion dollars, respectively. 

Not surprisingly, consumers in the highest income quintile contributed the most to each of the four categories of entertainment expenditure: more than $22 billion on fees and admissions; approximately $17 billion on televisions, radios, and sound equipment; $10 billion on pets, toys, and playground equipment; and $13 billion on other entertainment supplies, equipment, and services. 

Consumers in the lowest income quintile spent about $3 billion on fees and admissions; approximately $6 billion on televisions, radios, and sound equipment; $2 billion on pets, toys, and playground equipment; and over $2 billion on other entertainment supplies, equipment, and services.

The Consumer Expenditure Survey is the source of these data. Find out more in "Consumer expenditures for selected items, 1999 and 2000," Monthly Labor Review, May 2003. The first quintile is the 20 percent of consumer units with the lowest total income, the fifth quintile is those with the highest.

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