THE Australian Bureau of Statistics survey of household spending patterns in Australia makes for interesting reading for manufacturers and importers.
Some of the more interesting aspects of the most recent survey for the 12 months to June 1999 are:
* Australian households spent an average of $699 each week on goods and services. This is up 16 per cent since the last survey in 1993/94. The CPI over that time rose by 10 per cent. Over that same period weekly household income rose by 22 per cent and the average household size remained unchanged at 2.6 people.
* We spent an average of $127 per week on food and non-alcoholic beverages. This represents 18 per cent of total household spending.
* We required $118 per week to transport ourselves from place to place.
* The cost of housing was 14 per cent of the total or $97 per week.
* Recreation costs $89 per week.
* Household income affected the composition of a household’s weekly expenditure. For those in the lowest income quintile (the lowest 20 per cent of households when ranked according to income), food and non-alcoholic beverages accounted for 20 per cent of the expenditure on goods and services. For those in the highest income quintile, the proportion was 17 per cent spent on this category of goods and services.
* Generally the proportion spent on housing, household services and domestic fuel and power also declined as the household income rose.
* The proportion spent on transport, recreation, clothing and footwear and alcohol increased with the higher household income.
