A report by marketing firm Nielsen on the growing purchasing power of U.S. Hispanics was launched at the Cuban American National Council’s (CNC) Sixteenth Biennial Conference in Miami yesterday. According to the report, titled “State of the Hispanic Consumer: The Hispanic Market Imperative,” the 52 million Hispanics currently living in the United States already represent the twelfth-largest economy with a purchasing power of $1 trillion, and are projected to become the ninth largest economy by 2015 with a buying power of $1.5 trillion.

This years’ CNC conference, “Hispanics in Americas’ Future,” brings together Hispanic and Latin American leaders—among them, former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe—to discuss demographic and economic shifts in the U.S. population. "Any company that seeks to develop and grow in the U.S. has to attract the Hispanic consumer, it is imperative," said Monica Gil, director of public affairs and government relations at Nielsen. The report’s data also holds major implications for political campaigns, particularly the upcoming presidential election in November.

The launch of the report at the CNC coincided with the release of Census Bureau data indicating that non-white births in the U.S. reached 50.4 percent, representing a majority for the first time. Among minority groups, Hispanics are experiencing the highest population growth rates across the Southern as well as newer destinations like Iowa, Oregon, Minnesota and Washington, DC.