Aggregate demand is a concept used in economics to describe the total demand for goods and services within an economy. It basically refers to the total amount of stuff that people, businesses, and the government are willing and able to buy at a given price level.
Lots of things can affect aggregate demand, like how confident people feel about the economy, how much interest they have to pay on loans, and what policies the government has in place. When aggregate demand is high, it generally means that businesses are making more stuff and people are buying more things, which can lead to more economic growth and jobs.
It’s important to note that aggregate demand is different from individual demand. Individual demand just means how much one person wants to buy of a particular thing at a certain price, while aggregate demand means how much everyone wants to buy of everything.
Economists use a bunch of different tools to measure and analyze changes in aggregate demand over time, like the aggregate demand curve and something called gross domestic product (GDP). Understanding aggregate demand helps people who make economic policies figure out what’s happening in the economy and how to make it better.