2022 household spending exceeds pre-COVID levels

In 2022, household final consumption expenditure in the EU increased by 4.7% compared with 2021, while it was 1.0% higher compared with 2019.

Compared with 2021, significant growth of household consumption was observed in 2022 for goods and services that unprecedentedly dropped in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, expenditure for restaurants and hotels increased in volumes by 33.8%, for recreation and culture by 14.7%, for clothing and footwear by 11.5%, and for transport by 4.7%. Household consumption increased for all categories except for food and non-alcoholic beverages (-3.1%) and alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and narcotics (-1.0%). 

Although household consumption exceeded pre-COVID levels in 2022, certain categories still lagged behind pre-COVID figures. Specifically, in 2022, household consumption was still below 2019 volumes for transport (-7.8%), restaurants and hotels (-2.4%), and education (-1.5%).

Source dataset: nama_10_co3_p3