The demand schedule, depicted graphically as the demand curve, represents the amount of goods that buyers are willing and able to purchase at various prices, assuming all other non-price factors remain the same. The demand curve is almost always represented as downwards-sloping, meaning that as price decreases, consumers will buy more of the good.[1]

Just as the supply curves reflect marginal cost curves, demand curves can be described as marginal utility curves.[2]

The main determinants of individual demand are: the price of the good, level of income, personal tastes, the population (number of people), the government policies, the price of substitute goods, and the price of complementary goods.

The shape of the aggregate demand curve can be convex or concave, possibly depending on income distribution.

As described above, the demand curve is generally downward sloping. There may be rare examples of goods that have upward sloping demand curves. Two different hypothetical types of goods with upward-sloping demand curves are a Giffen good (an inferior, but staple, good) and a Veblen good (a good made more fashionable by a higher price).

Similar to the supply curve, movements along it are also named expansions and contractions. A move downward on the demand curve is called an expansion of demand, since the willingness and ability of consumers to buy a given good has increased, in tandem with a fall in its price. Conversely, a move up the demand curve is called a contraction of demand, since consumers are less willing and able to purchase quantities of the product in question.