November 15, 2022
In 2021, household consumption expenditure in the EU increased by 4% compared with 2020, following the unprecedented 8% drop in 2020 compared with 2019, due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Compared with 2019, household consumption expenditure in 2021 was however still 4% lower.
Although in 2021 all household expenditure consumption items saw a positive trend in comparison to 2020, some of the increases were not enough to compensate for the significant reductions registered in 2020 due to the pandemic. As a result, in 2021, household consumption was still much below 2019 volumes for ‘Restaurants and hotels’ (-28%), ’Transport’ (-12%), ‘Recreation and culture’ (-11%), and ‘Clothing and footwear’ (-10%).
Household consumption expenditure in other components like ‘Communications’ (+3%), ‘Food and non-alcoholic beverages’ (+1%) increased in 2021 compared with 2020, while the levels in 2021 are also higher than in 2019. Expenditure on health increased by 8% in 2021 compared with 2020 (+4% in 2021 compared to 2019).
In 2021, a quarter (25%) 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’ (14%) and ‘Transport’ and ‘Miscellaneous goods and services’ (both 12%).
Source: Eurostat
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