Data extracted: 20 November 2025.
Planned article update: November 2026.
Highlights
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.
The European estimates published today incorporate the implementation of the COICOP 2018 classification. The process started in 2024 and as of today most of the countries have already implemented the new classification. Estimations by Eurostat were used for those countries that have reported their data based on the COICOP 1999 classification (see 'New COICOP classification').
Household spending increased in 2024
Developments by COICOP categories
Figure 1 shows changes in expenditure by category in the last two consecutive years, meaning the change in 2024 compared with 2023 and year 2023 compared with 2022. In 2024, in the EU, household consumption expenditure, corrected for inflation, increased by 1.5%, compared with a moderate growth of 0.3% in 2023. For the specific categories, the largest increases can be seen for information and communication (+5.7%), transport and recreation, sport and culture (both +3.0%), health (+2.5%) and education services (+1.8%). Decreases can be observed only for alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics (-2.2%) and clothing and footwear (-0.6%) all confirming the negative change that can also be observed between 2023 and 2022. Food and non-alcoholic beverages (+1.2%), furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance and personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services (both +0.4%), for which a negative change was registered between 2022 and 2023, showed a slight increase.
Source: Eurostat (nama_10_cp18)
Developments by country
Twenty-six out of the 27 EU countries recorded increases in household consumption, corrected for inflation, in the year 2024 compared with 2023. The highest increases in household consumption were recorded in Malta (+8.8%), followed by Romania (+5.6%) and Hungary (+5.3%). Finland is the only country who exhibits a decreasing trend (-0.5%) also in 2024.
Source: Eurostat (nama_10_fcs)
Composition of EU household expenditure in 2024
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 (23.6% 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 (13.2% of the total or 6.8% of GDP) and transport (12.7% of the total or 6.6% of GDP). Together, these 3 categories account for almost half of the total household expenditure (49.5%), with the composition remaining stable compared with 2023.
Source: Eurostat (nama_10_cp18)
Restaurants and accommodation services (9.2% of the total or 4.8% of GDP), recreation, sport and culture (7.5% of the total or 3.9% of GDP), personal care, social protection and miscellaneous goods and services (6.3% of the total or 3.3% of GDP) followed. The remaining household spending was distributed over insurance and financial services (6.1% of the total or 3.2% of GDP), furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (4.8% of the total or 2.5% of GDP), health (4.5% of the total or 2.3% of GDP), clothing and footwear (4.1% of the total or 2.1% of GDP), alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics (3.7% of the total or 1.9% of GDP), information and communications (3.4% of the total or 1.8% of GDP) and education services (0.9% of the total or 0.5% of GDP).
Analysis of EU aggregates
In 2024, EU total household expenditure amounted to 51.8% of GDP, registering a slight decrease compared with 2023 (51.9% of GDP) thus stopping the increasing trend of the latest years. It must be also noted that it is 2.2 percentage points (pp) lower than the share of GDP in 2014, when household expenditure amounted to 54.1% of GDP.
Source: Eurostat (nama_10_cp18)
Composition in 2024 compared with 2023
Comparing the composition in 2024 with 2023, the situation is steady, with the largest decreases of shares recorded for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, followed by furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (both -0.2 pp). By contrast, the largest increases in shares between 2023 and 2024 were recorded for restaurants and accommodation services (+0.2 pp) followed by recreation, sport and culture and health (both +0.1 pp).
Source: Eurostat (nama_10_cp18)
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 2010-2024 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 2022, the effect of the recovery can be observed, along with the positive trend that continues in 2023 and is confirmed in 2024. After the strong growth in 2022 and 2023, categories like restaurants and accommodation services as well as transport kept increasing, but at a slower rate. A decreasing trend is confirmed for clothing and footwear 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 2010-2024 shows a steady increase. Compared with 2010, the largest increases were recorded in insurance and financial services (+55.2%), alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics (+51.2%), food and non-alcoholic beverages (+50.6%), and restaurants and accommodation services (+48.2%). Decrease was noted in information and communication (-26.6%).
When comparing with 2023, the largest increases were registered for restaurants and accommodation services(+5.1%), alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics (+4.9%) and insurance and financial services (+4.5%). The only category showing a slight decrease is information and communication (-0.6%).
Source: Eurostat (nama_10_cp18)
Country specific trends
Household expenditure shares in 2024 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 2024, the highest shares of household expenditure were found in Greece (75.3%), Croatia (70.5%) and Portugal (66.6%). The lowest shares were recorded in Ireland (25.9%), Luxembourg (33.7%) and the Netherlands (42.5%).
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 2024, followed by food and non-alcoholic beverages and transport. Regarding the expenditure on housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, the highest shares in household expenditure can be observed in Czechia (32.1%), Finland (29.6%) and Denmark (28.5%). The lowest shares were registered in Croatia (14.4%), Malta (15.1%) and Latvia (15.8%).
Source: Eurostat (nama_10_cp18) (nama_10_co3_p3)
For expenditure on food and non-alcoholic beverages, the highest shares were recorded in Romania (23.1%), Bulgaria and Latvia (both 20.1%) and Slovakia (19.7%). The lowest shares were observed in Luxembourg (9.3%), Ireland (9.8%), and Austria (10.2%).
Source: Eurostat (nama_10_cp18)(nama_10_co3_p3)
Finally, the highest shares of expenditure for the transport category were recorded in Slovenia (17.0%), Lithuania (15.2%) and Germany (14.2%). The lowest shares were observed in Slovakia (5.8%), Croatia (8.2%), and Czechia (8.5%).
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 the 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.
Entered into force on 1 September 2024, EU regulation 2024/734 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 have implemented the new version of the classification, with the exception of Bulgaria, Lithuania, which has implemented COICOP 2018 only from 2020 onwards, and Luxembourg, which has implemented the new classification only in current prices. 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 ESA 2010.
The transmission requirements for each dataset are defined in ESA 2010 transmission programme. COICOP 2018 data are to be transmitted 9 months after the reference period. Therefore, in this article the latest data available refer to the year 2024.
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
- Consumer prices - inflation
- National accounts and GDP
- Annual national accounts - evolution of the income components of GDP
- Employment statistics within national accounts
- Productivity trends using key national accounts indicators
- Quarterly national accounts - GDP and employment
- Main users of national accounts (background article)
Thematic section
Publications
- European system of accounts — ESA 2010
- European system of accounts — ESA 2010 — Transmission programme of data
- Manual on the changes between ESA 95 and ESA 2010 — 2014 edition
- 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
- EU Regulation No 734/2023 amending the European system of regional and national accounts (ESA 2010)
- Implementing Decision (EU No 1251/2024) of 25 April 2024 on granting derogations to certain Member States
Selected datasets
Methodology
ESMS metadata files
- Household final consumption expenditure by purpose (COICOP 2018) (ESMS metadata file — nama_10_cp18_esms)
- National accounts (ESA 2010) (na10) (ESMS metadata file – na10_esms)
- Annual national accounts (ESMS metadata file — nama10_esms)
- Population and employment - national accounts (ESMS metadata file — nama_10_pe_esms)
Other methodological information
- National accounts - Methodology
- Harmonised indices of consumer prices (HICP) (ESMS metadata file — prc_hicp_esms)
Visualisation
- Household expenditure by category, European Union, 2024 (as % of total expenditure)