Average expenditure of consumers – Spain

Posted on by Gala García Prieto

In order to understand consumers, their customs and habits, it is very important to know what they buy and where and how they spend their money. Here is some data about the average expenditure per household in Spain in 2018.

Average expenditure per household

The average expenditure per household was 29.871 euros in 2018, which meant an annual increase of 2.3% In constant terms, that is, eliminating the effect of inflation, the average expenditure per household grew by 1.4%.

There are significative differences by region. While in Madrid the average expenditure per household is 34.793 euros, in Extremadura is just 23.429 euros. The main reason for this is the housing market in different cities. While in Madrid a household spends an average of 11.729 euros, in Extremadura they expend only 7.046 euros on housing.  You can further analyze this information here: http://ine.es/infografias/gastosepf/desktop/gastos.html?t=0&lang=en

With regard to the distribution of average household expenditure, most are distributed, as usual, in three large groups:

  • Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, with an average expenditure of 9.181 euros, which accounted for 31% of the total household budget. The expenditure has increased by 4,6% from 2017.
  • Food and non-alcoholic beverages, to which they dedicated 4.223 euros, is 14% of the budget. In this group, the most relevant sub-categories are consumption in meat (3.2% of total expenditure), bread and cereals (2.0%), fish and seafood (1.7%), and milk, cheese and eggs (1.6%).
  • Transport, with an average cost of 3.790 euros, is 13% of the total. In this group, the highest sub-categories are fuels and lubricants (4.3% of the budget), automobiles (3.8%) and maintenance and repair of vehicles (2.0%).

Average expenditure per person

The average expenditure per person was 12.019 euros, with an increase of 2.5% compared to 2017. Ignoring inflation, the change was 1.6%. The expenditure varies significantly by region. From 14.406 euros in the Basque country to 8.702 euros in Ceuta. You can further analyze this information here: http://ine.es/infografias/gastosepf/desktop/gastos.html?t=1&lang=en

 

Online shopping keeps growing

  • In 2018, 30.3% of households made some expenditure through the Internet, compared to 25.7% of households the last year. The average annual expenditure of these households was 1,856 euros, 7.7% more than the last year.
  • The expenditure made by households through the Internet was 10,475 million euros, which is accounted for 1.9% of total expenditure and an increase of 27.7% compared to 2017.
  • 44% of people between 16 and 74 years old have shopped online in the last 3 months.

Source: INE Instituto Nacional de Estadística (National Institute of Statistics)