A new report from the Latino GDP team at UCLA and Cal Lutheran University highlights the significant impact of Latino-owned businesses on the U.S. economy, particularly during challenging periods such as the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the study, Latino entrepreneurs were responsible for 38.8% of overall business growth in the United States between 2007 and 2023. During this time, businesses owned by Latinos increased at a much higher rate than those owned by non-Latinos. Specifically, the number of Latino-owned businesses grew nearly seven times faster than non-Latino businesses over these 16 years.
David E. Hayes-Bautista, distinguished professor of medicine at UCLA and co-founder of the Latino GDP initiative, said, “The story of the U.S. Latino GDP — which we can now also show through business data — has been one of consistent, robust growth since 2007, in spite of adversities that flattened other economies.”
Researchers used census bureau surveys to analyze business creation trends. They found that from 2007 to 2023, the number of Latino-owned businesses rose by 157.9%, while non-Latino businesses grew by only 23.7%. Even during periods marked by economic downturns—such as from 2007 to 2012—the number of non-Latino businesses declined by 49,000, whereas Latino-owned businesses increased by over one million.
Dan Hamilton, economist at Cal Lutheran’s Center for Economic Research and Forecasting and co-author of the report, stated: “Business growth usually leads to job growth. The rapid growth of Latino businesses points toward an important source of job growth for the future.”
On average each year over the past decade and a half, Latino-owned businesses expanded at a rate of 6.7% per year—3.7 times faster than non-Latino firms’ annual growth rate.
Matthew Fienup, another co-author from Cal Lutheran University’s Center for Economic Research and Forecasting, noted: “This 16-year history reveals that Latinos power through challenging economic times, such as severe recessions and pandemics. In this way, Latinos are a critical source of resilience for the broader economy.”
The study also examined how major events affected business trends among different groups. For example, after the financial crisis triggered a national recession between 2007 and 2009—which led to declines in national GDP and rising unemployment—the number of non-Latino businesses fell slightly (by 0.2%) between 2007 and 2012; however, Latino-owned firms grew by more than 46% during that period.
Paul Hsu, epidemiologist at UCLA who contributed to the report, addressed health impacts on communities: “In 2020, the Latino age-adjusted death rate for COVID-19 was more than twice the non-Latino white rate,” he said. “In large part, this was caused by greater exposure to the coronavirus due to high labor force participation.”
Despite facing disproportionate health risks during COVID-19’s spread in recent years (2020–2023), Latino-owned firms continued their expansion—growing by more than four times (47.3%) compared with an increase among non-Latino firms (11.1%).
The researchers also looked into employer firms—those hiring at least one worker besides their owner—and found that while all groups saw faster increases in non-employer ventures overall since 2007 nationwide, there was notable recent momentum among employer firms owned by Latinos: Between 2017 and 2023 these companies outpaced both their own community’s non-employer ventures (by an average margin) as well as employer enterprises owned by others.
Data from this research supports earlier findings about strong labor force participation rates among Latinos in America; it further shows that their role is especially significant when it comes to creating jobs across households regardless of background or ethnicity.
Hayes-Bautista concluded: “Resilient Latino GDP growth reliably drives U.S. economic growth through good times and despite adversity,” adding that everyone benefits from these gains through improved living standards and opportunities for upward mobility.