The poor economy is spurring shoppers to clip and save like they haven’t in 15 years, according to new coupon usage statistics released by the Promotion Marketing Association (PMA) Coupon Council.

The new data shows coupon usage rates holding steady with the previous year.

“In this environment, consumers can be particularly responsive to coupon offers,” said PMA Coupon Council co-chair Matthew Tilley, “but so far in 2008, CPG marketers haven't really changed the number of coupons available; therefore consumer redemption is steady with last year. That's a significant change because until last year, we saw 15 years of declining coupon redemption in the U.S.”

A recent council Internet survey of 1,000 people found that 89 percent of the overall population report using coupons when shopping (for grocery, household and healthcare items at supermarkets), 97 percent of primary shoppers say that they use coupons at supermarkets, and coupon users report an average of 7 percent savings on their grocery bill with coupons.

Additional findings from the council are as follows:
--Consumers save about $2.6 billion annually using manufacturers' coupons when shopping for packaged products.
--Over $350 billion of packaged goods coupons are offered yearly.
--The average value is now about $1.25 per coupon.
--Almost 90 percent of all coupons are issued in Sunday newspaper FSIs, but coupons are also available directly in many retailers' ads or stores, in magazines, in and on product packaging, on the Internet, and in consumers’ mailboxes.

Founded in 1994, the PMA Coupon Council is an advocacy group for coupons within the New York-based Promotion Marketing Association.