While the U.S. election brought some new attention to the power of rural residents, there is no denying the fact that the globe continues to urbanize. A projected 55% of the planet's people are forecast to live in cities next year. Single people are also on the rise. The people on the planet are also getting older and are more interested in health and wellness. And if you are paying for stuff with cash -- not a card -- you are now in the minority.
These are some of the findings revealed this week by experts at market researcher Euromonitor International, which provided a look-ahead at some global consumer trends to watch in 2017. We plucked 10 key numbers from the findings:
55%: The percentage of the total global population that will live in cities in 2017, which is five points higher than it was in 2007, the year that urban population first surpassed rural population.
30.1: The median age of the global population in 2017, up from 27.9 a decade ago.
3.5 million: The number of additional people that will come online per week globally in 2017.
188,000: The number of single-person households that will be added globally each week.
44.1%: Percentage of payments made with cards -- not cash -- in 2016 measured by value, marking the first year cash (43%) was no longer the largest payment source. Card payments will continue to spike, reaching 49.1% of all value by 2021.
$711 billion: The value of the health and wellness industry in 2016. The industry is forecast to grow even larger in 2017, with demand surging for products such as meat substitutes and dairy milk alternatives.
2.7 million: Babies projected to be born each week globally in 2017.
2.3%: The percentage rise in consumer spending forecast for 2017.
$40 billion: Amount global consumers will spend each week.
$146 billion: Amount global consumers will save each week.