Press Release 08/07/2016
The average expenditure per household in the Basque Country in 2015 was similar to that of 2006
It exceeded 33,300 euros in 2015, and posted an increase of 4.7% compared with the previous year
Average household expenditure was 33,318 euros in 2015, 4.7% more than the previous year, and greater than the figure registered nine years before, in 2006, the year before the crisis, according to Eustat data. . Expenditure was 21.5% higher than the Spanish average.
By expenditure group, Basque homes maintained the same average household spending in 2015 on Housing, water, electricity and other fuels, the largest category, with a growth of 3.9% with respect to the previous year, even though there was a significant increase (26.4%) compared to 2006. In second place in terms of category size, expenditure on Food and non-alcoholic beverages, although it increased by 3.5% with respect to 2014, registered a fall of 1.2% with respect to 2006. Coming in third place, Hotels, cafés and restaurants saw an increase of 6.3% compared with the previous year, and a fall of 1.8% compared with 2006. Spending on Transport also fell sharply with respect to 2006 (-24.4%), though it increased compared with 2014 (5.3%).
Other expenditure categories recorded significant decreases compared with the period before the crisis, such as Clothing and footwear (-21.5%), Furnishings and household equipment (-22.1%) and Leisure, entertainment and culture (-20.0%). It is, however, worth highlighting the growth recorded by the categories Alcoholic beverages and tobacco (10.9%), Health(13.0%) and Education (31.5%) compared with 2006.
If we focus on the structure of expenditure, the three main expenditure groups in the consumption structure of Basque households in 2015 were Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, accounting for a total expenditure of 34.8%, followed by Food and non-alcoholic beverages, at 13.8% and expenditure on Hotels, cafés and restaurants at 10.4%. Following these were Transport (9.9%), Other goods and services (7.3%) and Clothes and Footwear (4.9%). Since 2006, the type of expenditure in the budget of Basque households that has increased the most is housing expenditure, from 27.7% to 34.8%, i.e. by more than seven percentage points. Spending on Transport, however, decreased by more than three percentage points, from accounting for 13.2% of household spending 2006 to 9.9% in 2015, all of which is in current terms. Total expenditure on Food decreased slightly from 14.1% to 13.8%.
The average expenditure per person stood at 13,997 euros, with an increase in current euros of 5.1% compared to 2014. This was 27.7% greater than the figure for Spain as a whole, meaning it was the autonomous region with the highest average expenditure per person, with Madrid (12,678 euros) and Navarra (12,656) coming next.
In absolute terms, total expenditure on consumption in 2015 rose by 5.2% with respect to 2014, 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 4.4% and 4.0% respectively. However, the level of total expenditure on Hotels, cafés and restaurants was up by 6.9%. All expenditure categories underwent an increase from the previous year, especially Health, which registered an increase of 17.3%.
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 2015, in households with a monthly income below 1,000 euros there was an average annual expenditure per household of 17,151 euros, whilst households with a monthly income of 3,000 euros was practically triple this amount, with an annual expenditure of 51,390 euros.
With respect to 2014, there was only a decrease in average household expenditure in households with an income lower than 1,000 euros, with a decrease of 1.4%. Other households saw a slight rise in expenditure, the one exception being households with income greater than 2,999 euros, where expenditure increased by 5.0%.
If we observe expenditure according to the geographical location of the family, the largest average household expenditure was in municipalities of fewer than 10,000 inhabitants, with an expenditure of 34,422 euros per household, 3.3% above the average for the Autonomous Region. The lowest average expenditure per household (€32,447) was produced in households situated in municipalities of 100,000 or more inhabitants.
By province, families in Álava accounted for 14.2% of the total expenditure on consumption in the Basque Country in 2015, Bizkaia accounted for 53.2% of the total and Gipuzkoa 32.6%.
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.es Tlf: 945 01 75 62
More press releases on the Family expenditure statistics in the Basque Country