By the end of 2018, total retail sales reached approximately 5.3 billion U.S. dollars, a two hundred million U.S. dollar increase from the year before. Retail sales have steadily increased from 2009, as the economy recovered from the drop due to the recession following the 2007-2008 financial crisis.
The United States as retail powerhouse
The United States is home to many of the leading retail companies in the world, including Walmart, Costco, and Amazon. Most of these companies' sales are within their domestic market, and as such, they are the dominating players within the American retail industry as well. Amazon, in particular, has seen extreme levels of growth in revenue in tandem with the increase of e-commerce globally.
The rise of E-commerce
E-commerce is responsible for a growing percentage of total retail sales, partially due to a surge in mobile shopping, with customers increasingly using their mobile devices for various online shopping activities. Smartphones accounted for more retail website visits than desktops or tablets, and matched desktops in generating online shopping orders.
Total retail sales in the United States from 1992 to 2018
(in billion U.S. dollars)
Numbers have been rounded to provide a better understanding of the statistic.
Figures are not adjusted for price changes. Retail and food services total and other subsector totals may include data for kinds of business not shown. Additional information on sample design, estimation procedures, and measures of sampling variability can be found here.
Estimates are shown in millions of dollars and are based on data from the Annual Retail Trade Survey. Estimates have been adjusted using preliminary results of the 2012 Economic Census
Profit from additional features by authenticating your Admin account
Please authenticate by going to "My account" → "Administration".
Then you will be able to mark statistics as favourites and use personal statistics alerts.
This feature is limited to our corporate solutions.
Please contact us to get started with full access to dossiers, forecasts, studies and international data.
Corporate Account
Statista Accounts:
Access All Statistics. Starting from $468 / Year
Basic Account
Get to know the platform
You only have access to basic statistics.
This statistic is not included in your account.
Single Account
Your perfect start with Statista
Instant access to 1m statistics
Download in XLS, PDF & PNG format
Detailed references
$59$39 / Month *
in the first 12 months
Corporate Account
Full access
Corporate solution including all features.
* All products require an annual contract; Prices do not include sales tax.
Statista Accounts:
Access All Statistics. Starting from $468 / Year
Learn more about how Statista can support your business.
US Census Bureau. (February 20, 2020). Total retail sales in the United States from 1992 to 2018 (in billion U.S. dollars) [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved August 14, 2020, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/197576/annual-retail-sales-in-the-us-since-1992/
US Census Bureau. "Total retail sales in the United States from 1992 to 2018 (in billion U.S. dollars)." Chart. February 20, 2020. Statista. Accessed August 14, 2020. https://www.statista.com/statistics/197576/annual-retail-sales-in-the-us-since-1992/
US Census Bureau. (2020). Total retail sales in the United States from 1992 to 2018 (in billion U.S. dollars). Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: August 14, 2020. https://www.statista.com/statistics/197576/annual-retail-sales-in-the-us-since-1992/
US Census Bureau. "Total Retail Sales in The United States from 1992 to 2018 (in Billion U.S. Dollars)." Statista, Statista Inc., 20 Feb 2020, https://www.statista.com/statistics/197576/annual-retail-sales-in-the-us-since-1992/
US Census Bureau, Total retail sales in the United States from 1992 to 2018 (in billion U.S. dollars) Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/197576/annual-retail-sales-in-the-us-since-1992/ (last visited August 14, 2020)
We use cookies to personalize contents and ads, offer social media features, and analyze access to our website. In your browser settings you can configure or disable this, respectively, and can delete any already placed cookies. For details, please see your browser’s Help section (by pressing F1). Please see our privacy statement for details about how we use data.
