• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, June 27, 2007

Teens remain a lucrative target. The market of products for this coveted demo will grow to more than $208 billion by 2011, according to a report from market research firm Packaged Facts.

That represents a roughly 10% increase from $189.7 billion in 2006. When inflation is factored in, compounded at 2% annually, that's just a 2% growth in actual value--but still noteworthy. The overall teen population is expected to decline by 3% in that period.

Actual teen income is lower than their spending power, with a projected total of $91.1 billion by 2011, according to Packaged Facts--a 14% increase over 2006's $79.7 billion. The difference is made up by parents' and other family members' discretionary spending on teens, usually, with close direction from teens themselves. This teen-focused adult spending is expected to rise 7% to $117.6 billion in 2011.

Interestingly, rates of adoption for online transactions remain low among teens, with just 26% of those surveyed having made such a transaction in the three months previous to the survey. That's markedly lower than the 66% figure for online adults from a 2006 survey by Harris Interactive. Overall, 87% of teens are online versus 66% of adults, per Harris.