Key takeaways:

• Gen X is the world’s top-spending generation, expected to account for $15.2 trillion in 2025
• As the sandwich generation, many Gen Xers influence three generations of spending
• Gen X women steer up to 80% of household buying decisions
• Spending priorities center on convenience and quality, with big gains forecasted in food, beverage, and beauty categories
• Gen Xers are disciplined savers, holding nearly $750K in average retirement balances

Gen X is taking center stage as the world’s top-spending consumer group. With projected global spending of $15.2 trillion in 2025 and $23 trillion by 2035, this generation is shaping markets across groceries, restaurants, and retail. Balancing career peaks, kids, and aging parents, Gen X is both a spending powerhouse and a disciplined saver, redefining what it means to be financially influential.

After years of flying under the radar, Gen X is quietly moving into the top spot among consumers. Those born 1965-1980 are projected to spend $15.2 trillion in 2025, making them the world’s highest-spending cohort — outpacing Gen Z by 40% and positioning them as the second-largest “economy” globally, behind only the U.S. as a whole.¹

Gen X as an economic powerhouse

What’s fueling the Gen X spend trend? Unlike Millennials who are still building wealth, or Baby Boomers who may be scaling back in retirement, Gen Xers are in their peak earning years. Their spending started edging up in 2021, and they’re projected to remain the world’s most influential consumers through 2033, shelling out an estimated $23 trillion a year by 2035.²

According to Empower Personal Dashboard^TM data, Gen X spends the most of any generation, laying out an average of $974 for the month of September 2025, compared with Baby Boomers ($843), Millennials ($783), and Gen Z ($468). They outspend in several key areas in September too:

Empower Personal Dashboard^TM average monthly spending data for September 2025.

Gen Xers prioritize travel, shelling out $1,150 on average in September 2025, second only to Baby Boomers ($1,218), and roughly double that of Gen Zers ($573) for the month.

In the next five years, Gen X spending is expected to surge in some categories, with food and non-alcoholic beverage expenditures forecast to increase by $507 billion and beauty segment outlays projected to jump by $80 billion.³

Read more: Shifting American spending habits

Gen X balances caretaking with parenting

As the “sandwich generation,” Gen Xers also may be balancing the costs of raising kids, paying for college, and caring for aging parents. Half of Gen Xers who care for their parents also have a child under the age of 18, and 56% financially support either their parents or their kids, or both. This means they’re essentially controlling the buying power of three generations of consumers — themselves, their kids, and their parents. And the power dynamic is particularly strong among women: Gen X women control half of global consumer spending and influence 70–80% of household purchasing decisions.⁴

Given the responsibilities, many Gen Xers are buyers of convenience, tend to be brand loyal, and are willing to pay a premium for convenience and time-saving solutions.⁵

Read more: Gen X strikes a balance between retirement and caring for aging parents

Saving for retirement

Together, these lifestyle and financial pressures are creating a generation that not only spends big, but at the same time actively saves and plans for their financial future. According to Empower Personal Dashboard data, Gen Xers have $748,294 in retirement savings on average, including an average of $498,518 in 401(k)s. That’s second only to Baby Boomers, who have the highest average retirement balances of any generation at $1,097,777 and nearly triple the average retirement savings of Millennials at $250,950.

Read more: Average retirement savings by age