Expenditure on food and dwelling account for a third of the household budget

Last year, expenditure on food and dwelling accounted for 36.8% of the household budget and was on average 180 euros per month per household member. Compared to 2016, compulsory expenditure increased by 18 euros per month per household member.

In 2019, a household member spent 104 euros per month on food and non-alcoholic beverages, which accounted for 21.2% of the total expenditure. The average expenditure on dwelling was 76 euros per month. Both expenditures increased by 9 euros compared to 2016. Expenditure on transport was on average 72 euros, leisure time 52 euros, housekeeping 36 euros and clothing and footwear 27 euros per month per household member. Expenditure on transport increased the most – by 22 euros compared to 2016.

Per member of an urban household, the average expenditure on dwelling was 19 euros higher than in rural areas (83 and 64 euros per month, respectively). Urban households also spent more on eating out and hotels – the average expenditure of a household member in urban areas was 5.9% and in rural areas 4.1% of the budget.

In rural areas, transport expenses accounted for 16.8% and in urban areas for 13.7% of the household budget, which is 77 euros per month per member of a rural household and 69 euros per month per member of an urban household. In rural areas, expenditure on food and non-alcoholic beverages per household member accounted for 22.8% and in urban areas for 20.4% of the budget.

By county, the largest expenditures of households were in Hiiu*, Harju and Viljandi counties (598, 553 and 515 euros per month per household member, respectively) and the smallest in Võru and Ida-Viru counties (325 and 327 euros per month per household member, respectively).

The estimates were calculated according to the data of the Household Budget Survey conducted in 2019. More than 4,500 households participated in the survey. A household is a group of people who live at the same address and share joint financial resources and whose members consider themselves to belong to the same household. In 2019, there were over 606,600 households in Estonia and the average size of a household was 2.2 persons.

Mortgage payments, real estate purchases, financial investments, expenses on major repairs or construction and other investments are not taken into account as household consumption expenditure.

For the Household Budget Survey, the main representatives of public interest are the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Finance. Data was collected and analysed by Statistics Estonia.

* In Hiiu county, in 2019, the sample included households that had large one-time expenses.

More detailed data have been published in the statistical database.