Press Release 29/06/2021

FAMILY EXPENDITURE SURVEY. 2020

Average expenditure per household in the Basque Country fell by 8.5% in 2020

38.8% of Basque households made purchases online in 2020, over 15 points higher than 4 years earlier

Average household expenditure was 31,498 euros in 2020, 8.5% lower than the previous year, according to Eustat data.

These results should be analysed in the social and economic context arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, as there has been an upward trend in household expenditure in the Basque Country over the last five years.

The highest growth in total expenditure occurred in the Alcoholic beverages and tobacco group, with an annual increase of 24.6%

In absolute terms, total expenditure on consumption amounted to 28,765 million euros in 2020, 8.3% higher than 2019, with different trends in the various expenditure groups. As regards the two most significant groups in terms of expenditure volume, expenditure undertaken in Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels increased by 3.4%; and Food and non-alcoholic beverages registered a growth of 9.2%. The increase in household consumption expenditure on Alcoholic beverages and tobacco rose by 24.6% compared to 2019, possibly as a consequence of the restrictions in effect for hospitality establishments.

Total expenditure in the other expenditure groups fell in comparison with the previous year, most notably expenditure on Restaurants and hotels, with a 40.2% decrease, resulting in a reduction of 1,377 million euros in the level of expenditure at current prices for 2020. Next in importance were expenditure on Leisure and culture with a drop of 29.4%, Clothing and footwear (-23.7%) and Transport (-22.1%).

Average household expenditure by expenditure groups shows similar trends. The only expenditure groups that increased in comparison with 2019 were Alcoholic beverages and tobacco, with a 24.4% rise, Food and non-alcoholic beverages (9.0%) and Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (3.2%).

In contrast, the average expenditures per household that fell the most compared to the previous year were Restaurants and hotels (-40.4%), Leisure and culture (-29.5%), Clothing and footwear (-23.9%), Transport (-22.2%) and expenditure on Healthcare (-15.3%).

The greatest expenditure for Basque households continues to be Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, which gained ground and accounted for 38.4% of the total

As regards pattern of expenditure, Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels remained the largest expenditure for Basque homes in 2020 at 38.4%, a rise of 4.4 percentage points on the previous year. The second highest, expenditure on Food and non-alcoholic beverages, at 16.3%, also increased by 2.6 percentage points compared to the previous period. Expenditure on both groups accounted for more than half of the total household budget in 2020, comprising 54.7%, compared to 47.7% in 2019.

It is worth highlighting the decrease in expenditure on Restaurants and hotels in the total household budget, which represented 7.1% of the overall budget compared to 10.9% in 2019, a fall of 3.8 percentage points. The group with the next biggest drop, compared to the previous year, was expenditure on Transport, which fell from 10.7% in 2019 to 9.1% of the total budget in 2020.

Expenditure by province

By province, families in Álava undertook 13.9% of the total consumption expenditure in the Basque Country in 2020, Bizkaia accounted for 51.8% of the expenditure and Gipuzkoa 34.3%.

The highest average expenditure per household was registered in households in Gipuzkoa

Households in Gipuzkoa registered the highest average expenditure per household (an average of 33,508 euros per year per household), 6.4% higher than the Basque Country average (31,498), but with a 6.1% decrease in average expenditure per household in the province compared to 2019. This drop was primarily due a decrease in expenditure on Restaurants and hotels (-40.2%), Leisure and culture (-28.8%), Clothing and footwear (-19.0%) and Transport (-13.5%). In contrast, there was a rise in average expenditure per household on Alcoholic beverages and tobacco (54.9%), Food and non-alcoholic beverages (9.3%) and Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (4.8%), the last of which was the most significant group as regards expenditure volume.

In Bizkaia, average expenditure per household was 31,113 euros, 1.2% below the average for the Basque Country. Compared to the previous year, the average expenditure per household in the province fell by 10.1%. As is the case in Gipuzkoa, this drop corresponds primarily to the expenditure groups Restaurants and hotels (-41.9%), Clothing and footwear (-29.9%), Leisure and culture (-28.8%) and Transport (-26.2%). Likewise, the groups that increased were Alcoholic beverages and tobacco (10.8%), Food and non-alcoholic beverages (7.1%), Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (2.3%) and Communications (1.2%).

For its part, the province of Álava registered the lowest average expenditure per household (28,580 euros), 9.3% below the Basque Country average, with an 8.1% drop compared to the data for 2019. As occurred in the other provinces, the same groups were responsible for the fall in expenditure, that is, Restaurants and hotels (-34.7%), Leisure and culture (-33.3%), Transport (-30.4%) and Clothing and footwear (-15.0%). The expenditure groups that grew in 2020 were, in order of significance in the level of expenditure, Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (2.5%), Food and non-alcoholic beverages (15.1%), Furniture, household items and routine household maintenance items (3.8%) and Alcoholic beverages and tobacco (16.2%).

Expenditure online

An increasingly significant part of household consumption expenditure is undertaken online, comprising 4.7% of total household spending in the Basque Country in 2020 and accounting for 1,346 million euros. According to the pattern of expenditure on goods and services purchased online, the Leisure and culture expenditure group accounted for 21.7%, with noteworthy expenditure on Audiovisual, photographic and information processing equipment within this group. The next largest groups were Food and non-alcoholic beverages (17.8%), Clothing and footwear (16.8%) and Restaurants and hotels (16.6%). Within this last group, it is worth highlighting the decrease in Accommodation services purchased online, which represented 93.5% of the group in 2019 and fell to 68.1% in 2020. Consequently, Catering services gained ground, increasing from 6.5% of online expenditure in this group to 31.9% in 2020.

As regards the trend in online expenditure, we can see that the percentage of households that made purchases on the internet has continued to rise since 2016 and stands at 38.8% of all households in the Basque Country in 2020. Basque households that made purchases online in 2020 undertook 10.1% of their total expenditure on the internet, spending an average of 3,798 euros per household.

Consumer spending according to household characteristics

An analysis of household expenditure in the Basque Country, according to various classification variables for the household and its members, reveals a socio-economic interpretation of the data.

With regard to household size, 1 member households had an average expenditure per person of 20,459 euros in 2020, 54.0% above the average for the Basque Country. 2 member households stood 17.6% above the average, with an average expenditure per person of 15,623 euros. In contrast, households with 3 members (11,785 euros) and 4 or more members (10,237 euros), were below average with 11.3% and 23.0%, respectively.

According to main household income source, households whose main source of income is self-employment and income from property and capital registered the greatest average expenditure in 2020 at 38,895 euros, 23.3% higher than the average expenditure per household in the Basque Country. The next highest was households whose main source of income was employed work, at 33,810 euros. Lastly, households whose main source of income was pensions, benefits and other payments and regular income registered an average expenditure per household of 27,490 euros, 12.8% below the Basque Country average.

With regarding to household expenditure according to the situation arising from the activity of the primary breadwinner, in households where the primary breadwinner was active in 2020, average household expenditure was 33,464 euros, 6.2% above the average for the Basque Country. In contrast, in households where the primary breadwinner was inactive, the average expenditure was 28,227 euros, 10.4% below the average.

Note: The survey on family expenditure is carried out in collaboration with the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE) in the Autonomous Region of the Basque Country.

For further information:

Euskal Estatistika-Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service:servicioprensa@eustat.esTel: 945 01 75 62