Data extracted: 27 November 2024.
Planned article update: November 2025.
Highlights
Source: Eurostat (nama_10_cp18)
This article analyses trends in the structure of household final consumption expenditure by consumption purpose (COICOP 2018) which can be expected to have a significant influence on citizens' wellbeing.
Following recommendations for a harmonised European revision policy for national accounts and balance of payments, EU countries have carried out a benchmark revision of their national accounts estimates in 2024. The purpose of this benchmark revision is to implement changes introduced by the amended ESA 2010 regulation, incorporate new data sources and other methodological improvements.
The European estimates published today include benchmark revisions from all EU countries but Luxembourg. They also incorporate the implementation of the COICOP 2018 classification by most EU countries and estimates by Eurostat for those countries that have reported their data based on the COICOP 1999 classification (see 'New COICOP classification').
Household spending increased in 2023
Developments by COICOP categories
Figure 1 shows changes in expenditure by category in the last 2 consecutive years, meaning the change in 2023 compared with 2022 and year 2022 compared with 2021. Compared with 2022, household consumption expenditure, corrected for inflation, increased by 0.5% in the EU in 2023, increasing at a much slower rate compared with the increase observed in 2022 (+5.2%). For the specific categories, the largest increases can still be seen for 'Restaurants and accommodation services' (+4.6%), and 'Transport' (+4.3%). 'Recreation, sport and culture' (+3.0%), 'Information and communications' (+2.3%) and 'Health' (+1.3%) also increased. Decreases can still be observed for 'Furnishing, household equipment and routine household maintenance' (-4.9%), 'Food and non-alcoholic beverages' (-3.7%), 'Alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics' (-2.2%), all confirming the negative change that can also be observed between 2022 and 2021. 'Clothing and footwear' and 'Personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services', for which a positive change was registered between 2021 and 2022, showed a decrease (-1.8% and -0.7% respectively).
Source: Eurostat (nama_10_cp18)
Developments by country
Fourteen out of the 26 EU countries, for which data are available, recorded increases in household consumption, corrected for inflation, in the year 2023 compared with 2022, while all of them, except Denmark, registered an increase in 2022 compared with 2021. The highest increases in household consumption were recorded in Malta (+12.9%), followed by Cyprus (+6.0%) and Ireland (+3.4%). The most decreases were observed for Sweden (-2.4%), Slovakia (-2.1%), Czechia and Hungary (both -2.0%).
Source: Eurostat (nama_10_cp18) (nama_10_co3_p3)
Composition of EU household expenditure in 2023
Looking at the composition of EU household expenditure by the main 13 COICOP categories based on current price figures (see Figure 3), almost a quarter of EU household expenditure (23.7% of total or 12.3% of GDP) was devoted to 'Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels'. Other large shares are observed for 'Food and non-alcoholic beverages' (13.0% of the total or 6.8% of GDP) and 'Transport' (12.8% of the total or 6.7% of GDP). Together, these 3 categories account for almost half of the total household expenditure (49.5%), with the composition remaining stable compared with 2022.
Source: Eurostat (nama_10_cp18)
'Restaurants and accommodation services' (9.1% of the total or 4.7% of GDP), 'Recreation, sport and culture' (7.6% of the total or 4.0% of GDP), 'Insurance and financial services' and 'Personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services' (both 6.3% of the total or 3.3% of GDP) followed. The remaining household spending was distributed over 'Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance' (4.9% of the total or 2.6% of GDP), 'Health' (4.4% of the total or 2.3% of GDP), 'Clothing and footwear' (4.0% of the total or 2.1% of GDP), 'Alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics' (3.8% of the total or 2.0% of GDP), 'Information and communications' (3.3% of the total or 1.7% of GDP) and 'Education services' (0.9% of the total or 0.4% of GDP), which together represented 21.3% of total household expenditure or 11.1% of EU GDP in 2023.
Analysis of EU aggregates
In 2023, EU total household expenditure amounted to 52.1% of GDP, registering a slight growth compared with 2022 (51.8% of GDP) and confirming an increasing trend, almost reaching pre-pandemic levels. However, it must be noted that it has still not reached the same level of 2013, when household expenditure was 54.6% of GDP.
Source: Eurostat (nama_10_cp18)
Source: Eurostat (nama_10_cp18)
Composition in 2023 compared with 2022
Comparing the composition in 2023 with 2022, the largest decreases of shares were recorded for 'Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (-0.7 percentage points (pp)), followed by 'Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance' (-0.3 pp). The largest increases in shares between 2022 and 2023 were recorded instead for 'Insurance and financial services' (+0.9 pp), followed by 'Restaurants and accommodation services' (+0.5 pp).
Evolution of volumes
The analysis of household consumption in terms of volumes also allows for some interesting insights: the development of volumes (total) during the period 2010-2023 shows a gradual increase, with a few exceptions, over the whole period up to 2020, where we can see the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting from 2021, the effect of the recovery can be observed, along with the positive trend that continues in 2022 and is confirmed in 2023. After the strong growth in 2021 and 2022, categories like 'Restaurants and accommodation services' as well as 'Information and communication' keep increasing, but at a slower rate. Decreases can be seen instead for 'Food and non-alcoholic beverages', 'Clothing and footwear', 'Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance' and 'Alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics'.
Source: Eurostat (nama_10_cp18)
Evolution of implicit deflator
Finally, some trends in the implicit deflator seem worth mentioning: the development of implicit prices (of total) during the period 2010-2023 shows a steady increase. Compared with 2010, the largest increases were recorded in 'Insurance and financial services' (+48.8%), 'Food and non-alcoholic beverages' (+47.2%), 'Alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics' (+43.4%) and 'Restaurants and accommodation services' (+40.8%). Decrease was noted in 'Information and communication' (-26.5%).
When comparing with 2022, the largest increases were registered for 'Insurance and financial services' (+25.3%), 'Food and non-alcoholic beverages' (+11.8%) and 'Restaurants and accommodation services' (+7.6%). No decreases were registered for any of the categories.
Source: Eurostat (nama_10_cp18)
Country specific trends
Household expenditure shares in 2023 the highest in Greece and Croatia
Looking at the situation by country, the analysis can also point out some interesting trends: as a ratio to GDP in 2023, the highest shares of household expenditure were found in Greece (75.4%), Croatia (72.4%) and Portugal (67.4%). The lowest shares were recorded in Ireland (26.7%), Luxembourg (33.6%) and the Netherlands (43.3%).
Source: Eurostat (nama_10_cp18) (nama_10_co3_p3)
In the EU as a whole, as well as in nearly all EU countries, 'Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels' was the most significant item of household expenditure in 2023, followed by 'Food and non-alcoholic beverages' and 'Transport'. As regards expenditure on 'Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels', the highest shares in household expenditure can be observed in Czechia (32.4%), Finland (29.7%) and Slovakia (29.2%). The lowest shares were registered in Croatia (14.8%), Malta (15.1%) and Latvia (15.3%).
Source: Eurostat (nama_10_cp18) (nama_10_co3_p3)
For expenditure on 'Food and non-alcoholic beverages', the highest shares were recorded in Latvia (20.6%), Bulgaria (20.2%) and Slovakia (19.6%). The lowest shares were observed in Ireland (8.6%), Luxembourg (9.4%) and Austria (10.4%).
Source: Eurostat (nama_10_cp18) (nama_10_co3_p3)
New COICOP classification
The Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP) is an international reference classification system for household expenditure. The 49th session of the United Nations Statistical Commission considered and endorsed the revised version of the classification of individual consumption by purpose (COICOP 2018) as the internationally accepted standard. The final structure and correspondence table between 2 versions of classifications have been published on the UNSD website. At the level of total consumption or divisions the revised classification is largely comparable with its previous version. However, divisions 08 'Information and communication' and 09 'Recreation, sport and culture' were significantly revised in order to reflect technological developments and changes in consumption patterns, while further structural changes have been implemented at a lower level.
Entering into force on 1 September 2024, EU regulation 2023/734 amending the European system of regional and national accounts (ESA 2010) required that the data transmitted to Eurostat on household final consumption expenditure by purpose should be according to the COICOP 2018 classification. The majority of EU countries implemented the new version of the classification already, but the Commission has granted derogations to 11 EU countries (Bulgaria, Greece, Croatia, Cyprus, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Finland) for implementation until September 2027. Despite existing derogations, some countries have already started to transmit data according to COICOP 2018. To ensure coherence and comparability of all input data for the estimates of European aggregates, Eurostat has estimated according to the COICOP 2018 classification the data of countries that transmitted their data according to the COICOP 1999 classification. These estimates of national data have been included in the European aggregates, but not published in the Eurostat database.
Source data for tables and graphs
Data sources
Eurostat collects data on household final consumption expenditure according to the international Classification of individual consumption by purpose (COICOP 2018) in the framework of ESA2010.
The transmission requirements for each dataset are defined in ESA 2010 transmission programme. COICOP 2018 data are to be transmitted at T+9 months after the reference period. Therefore, in this article the latest data available refer to the year 2023.
Breakdowns
Household consumption expenditure is classified by consumption purpose according to the COICOP 2018 classification (Classification Of Individual Consumption by Purpose. COICOP 2018 categories at 3-digit level are as follows:
CP01 - Food and non-alcoholic beverages
- CP011 - Food
- CP012 - Non-alcoholic beverages
- CP013 - Services for processing primary goods for food and non-alcoholic beverages
CP02 - Alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics
- CP021 - Alcoholic beverages
- CP022 - Alcohol production services
- CP023 - Tobacco
- CP024 - Narcotics
CP03 - Clothing and footwear
- CP031 - Clothing
- CP032 - Footwear
CP04 - Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels
- CP041 - Actual rental payments made for housing
- CP042 - Imputed rental payments for housing
- CP043 - Maintenance, repair and security of the dwelling
- CP044 - Water supply and miscellaneous services relating to the dwelling
- CP045 - Electricity, gas and other fuels
CP05 - Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance
- CP051 - Furniture, furnishings, and loose carpets
- CP052 - Household textiles
- CP053 - Household appliances
- CP054 - Glassware, tableware and household utensils
- CP055 - Tools and equipment for house and garden
- CP056 - Goods and services for routine household maintenance
CP06 - Health
- CP061 - Medicines and health products
- CP062 - Outpatient care services
- CP063 - Inpatient care services
- CP064 - Other health services
CP07 - Transport
- CP071 - Purchase of vehicles
- CP072 - Operation of personal transport equipment
- CP073 - Passenger transport services
- CP074 - Transport services for goods
CP08 - Information and communication
- CP081 - Information and communication equipment
- CP082 - Software, excluding games
- CP083 - Information and communication services
CP09 - Recreation, sport and culture
- CP091 - Recreational durables
- CP092 - Other recreational goods
- CP093 - Garden products and pets
- CP094 - Recreational services
- CP095 - Cultural goods
- CP096 - Cultural services
- CP097 - Newspapers, books and stationery
- CP098 - Package holidays
CP10 - Education services
- CP101 - Early childhood and primary education
- CP102 - Secondary education
- CP103 - Post-secondary non-tertiary education
- CP104 - Tertiary education
- CP105 - Education not defined by level
CP11 - Restaurants and accommodation services
- CP111 - Food and beverage serving services
- CP112 - Accommodation services
CP12 - Insurance and financial services
- CP121 - Insurance
- CP122 - Financial services
CP13 - Personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services
- CP131 - Personal care
- CP132 - Other personal effects
- CP133 - Social protection
- CP139 - Other services
Context
Consumption expenditure is what people, acting either individually or collectively, spend on goods and services to satisfy their needs and wants. A household's material well-being can be expressed in terms of its access to goods and services. Measuring consumption expenditure might, therefore, be a way of measuring material well-being.
In national accounts, the final consumption expenditure of households is the largest component of the expenditure approach to GDP. Its evolution allows an assessment of purchases made by households, reflecting changes in wages and other incomes, but also in employment and in savings behaviour.
Explore further
Other articles
Thematic section
Publications
- European system of accounts — ESA 2010
- ESA 2010 — Transmission programme of data
- Essential SNA — Building the basics — 2014 edition
- Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose (COICOP) 2018
- Handbook on price and volume measures in national accounts
- Manual on the changes between ESA 95 and ESA 2010 — 2014 edition
- Regulation (EU) No 734/2023 (ESA 2010 Regulation) of 15 March 2023 amending Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 on the European system of national and regional accounts in the European Union
- Implementing Decision (EU No 1251/2024) of 25 April 2024 on granting derogations to certain Member States
Selected datasets
Methodology
- Annual national accounts (ESMS metadata file — nama10_esms)
- National accounts - Methodology
- Harmonised indices of consumer prices (HICP) (ESMS metadata file — prc_hicp_esms)
Visualisation
- Household expenditure by category, European Union, 2022 (as % of total expenditure)