More Americans Eating Out

November 2004 -- Research from U.S. Department of Agriculture?s Economic Research Service (ERS) suggests that between 2000 and 2020, Americans will increase their spending by about 18 percent per person at full-service restaurants and about 6 percent per person at fast-food establishments, reports Meatingplace.com.

The predictions are based on a statistical model that incorporates the changing demographics of the U.S. population, including a projected rise in income, a decrease in the proportion of ?traditional? households and an increase in the average age.

According to ERS, higher-income people tend to spend more money on dining out. If household incomes were to grow by 1 percent annually on an inflation-adjusted basis, by 2020 this development alone would foster a 17-percent increase in per-person spending at full-service restaurants and a 7-percent increase at fast-food places.