Press Release 16/06/2014
The average expenditure per household in 2013 was less than in 2006 in the Basque Country
However, expenditure on housing, water, electricity and gas rose by 26%
Average household expenditure was 32,720 euros in 2013, 1.3% less than the previous year, and even less (-1.2%) than the figure registered seven years before, in 2006, according to Eustat data. By expenditure group, Basque homes maintained the same average household spending on Housing, water, electricity and other fuels, the largest category, with zero growth with respect to the previous year, even though there was a significant increase (26.0%) compared to 2006. In second place in terms of category size, expenditure on Food and non-alcoholic beverages, although it increased by 2.1% with respect to 2012, registered a fall of 0.6% with respect to 2006.
Spending on Transport also fell sharply with respect to 2006 (-31.7%), and compared with 2012 (-10.0%). Other types of expenditure, however, registered significant growth, although they account for less of the total. Thus, expenditure on Health rose by 13.1% with respect to the previous year and 10.9% in relation to 2006, and expenditure on Education grew by 13.4% and 26.1%, respectively. In addition, the contraction in family spending on Leisure, entertainment and culture, by 11.5% with regards to the previous year, was significant; as was spending on Hotels, cafés and restaurants (-4.3%).
If we focus on the structure of expenditure, the three main expenditure groups in the consumption structure of Basque households in 2013 were Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, accounting for an average total household expenditure of 35.3%, followed by Food and non-alcoholic beverages, at 14.2% and expenditure on Hotels, cafés and restaurants at 9.7%. Following these were Transport (9.1%), Other goods and services (7.3%) and Clothes and Footwear (5.3%).
Since 2006, the type of expenditure in the budget of Basque households that has increased the most is housing expenditure, from 27.7% to 35.3%; up by almost eight percentage points. Spending on transport, however, decreased by 4 percentage points, from accounting for 13.2% of household spending 2006 to 9.1% in 2013, all of which is in current terms. Food still accounted for 14% of the family budget, whereas spending on leisure, culture, hotels and restaurants became less significant compared to 2006, going from 17.8% to 15% of the family budget in 2013.
The average expenditure per person stood at 13,573 euros, with an decrease in current euros of 0.4% compared to 2012.
In absolute terms, total expenditure on consumption in 2013 fell by 1.1% with respect to 2012, with different trends in the various expenditure groups. Thus, the two most significant groups in order of expenditure, Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels and Food and non-alcoholic beverages were up by 0.3% and 2.4% respectively. However, the level of total expenditure on Hotels, cafés and restaurants was down by 4.0%. The most significant decrease in percentage terms was produced in Leisure, entertainment and culture with an expenditure situated at 1.552 billion euros (11.3% down on the previous year). In contrast, the highest growth was in the area of Education, with 13.7%, followed by Health (13.4%).
If we look at the average household expenditure according to the level of net monthly household income, significant differences can be seen between households with the lowest and the highest incomes. In 2013, in households with a monthly income below 1,000 euros there was an average annual expenditure per household of 17,711 euros, whilst households with a monthly income of 3,000 euros was almost triple this amount, with an annual expenditure of 51,725 euros.
With respect to 2012, there was a decrease in average household expenditure in households with an income of between 2,000 and 2,999 euros, with a decrease of 1.8%. In the remaining households there was a slight increase in average expenditure per household.
Finally, if we observe expenditure according to the geographical location of the family, the largest average household expenditure was produced in municipalities of fewer than 10,000 inhabitants, with an expenditure of 33,945 euros per household, 3.7% above the average for the Autonomous Region. The lowest average expenditure per household (€32,216) was produced in households situated in municipalities of between 10,000 and 100,000 inhabitants.
By province, families in Álava implemented 13.7% of the total expenditure in the Basque Country in 2013, Bizkaia accounted for 53.8% of the total and Gipuzkoa 32.5%.
Note: The survey on family expenditure is carried out in collaboration with the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE).
For further information:
Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Instituto Vasco de Estadística
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tlf: 945 01 75 62
More press releases on the Family Expenditure Statistics in the Basque Country