1Generally an economy or saving that is not readily apparent (rare).
2Politics and Economics, the economic sector consisting of transactions that are (illegally) not declared for tax purposes, and which are therefore not taken into account in official statistics.
Origin
1930s; earliest use found in The Times.
Definition of hidden economy in US English:
hidden economy
noun
1Generally an economy or saving that is not readily apparent (rare).
2Politics and Economics, the economic sector consisting of transactions that are (illegally) not declared for tax purposes, and which are therefore not taken into account in official statistics.