In 2020, household consumption expenditure in the EU decreased by an unprecedented 8% in 2020 compared with 2019. This is the largest annual reduction recorded since it has been measured and it is due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Social distancing measures, government restrictions imposed on the movement of people and non-essential economic activities severely affected household consumption expenditure.
The largest decreases in household consumption expenditure were observed for ‘Restaurants and hotels’ (-38% compared with 2019), ‘Clothing and footwear, ’Transport’ and ‘Recreation and culture’ (all -17%). On the other hand, the largest increases were recorded for ‘Food and non-alcoholic beverages’ (+3%) and ‘Communications’ (+2%).
This information comes from data published by Eurostat today. The article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article.
Source dataset: nama_10_co3_p3
In 2020, over a quarter (26%) of household consumption expenditure was devoted to ‘Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels’, making it the EU's largest household expenditure item, ahead of ‘Food and non-alcoholic beverages’ (15%) and ‘Transport’ (12%).
For more information:
- Eurostat Statistics Explained article on household consumption by purpose
- Eurostat dedicated section on national accounts
- Eurostat database on national accounts
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