How we spent our money in 1980 compared with now: What CSO data tells us

Households that participate in the CSO’s Household Budget Surveys (HBS) provide detailed information on what they spend their money on so we can compare spending patterns of households over time. If we take the period from 1980 to 2023, there’s been some very significant changes in household spending. For example, in 1980 almost 28% of household spending was on food but by 2016 this had almost halved to under 15%. However, the impact of food inflation saw this increase to 16% of household expenditure in 2023.

To measure inflation accurately the CSO needs to know what households are spending their money on. This is achieved by tracking price changes of approximately 600 items included in a basket of goods and services with items added and removed depending on their contribution to household expenditure. The types of items added to or removed from the basket of goods and services provides a unique snapshot of our changing shopping habits. Since 2000, food items added to the basket of goods include milk and meat substitutes, hake, avocados, specialised teas, and gluten free foods while items such as loose tea leaves, Swiss rolls, and cooking apples have been removed.

Expenditure on housing includes spending on rent, mortgage, home insurance, local property tax (LPT), refuse, maintenance products and services, and capital improvements. The proportion of total expenditure by households on housing rose from 7% in 1980 to 18% in 2023. The nature of occupancy such as whether the dwelling is owned or rented, has a large impact on the proportion of spending that is housing-related. In 2023, households that owned their homes without a mortgage spent on average 10% of their total expenditure on housing compared with 22% for households that owned their homes with a mortgage, and 24% for renting households.

Census results show that in 2022, just over 18% of occupied dwellings were rented from a private landlord, up from around 10% in 1981. The increase in the percentage of private rented households has contributed to the higher proportion of housing-related household expenditure.

Results from the HBS show that the proportion of total expenditure related to Fuel & Light - such as electricity, gas, oil, and solid fuels - fell from over 6% in 1980 to under 5% in 2016. In 2023, the proportion of total expenditure spent on Fuel & Light increased to over 6% due to the impact of energy price inflation in 2022 and 2023.

However, these figures don’t tell the story of the changes that have taken place in terms of the energy efficiency of our homes and how we heat them. If we look at Domestic Building Energy Rating (BER) audits, we know that dwellings built over the last decade are substantially more energy efficient than those from earlier periods. A ratings were given to 99% of audited dwellings built between 2020-2024 and 95% of those built between 2015-2019. In comparison, just 3% of audited dwellings built from 2005-2009 received an A rating.

The energy sources we use to heat our homes are also changing. Electricity was the main space heating fuel for 91% of audited dwellings constructed between 2020-2024, up from just 20% for dwellings constructed between 2010-2014. Mains gas was the main space heating fuel for 9% of audited dwellings built between 2020-2024, compared with 45% of those built between 2015-2019. Heating oil was the main space heating fuel for 36% of dwellings built between 2000-2004 compared with 0% of audited dwellings built between 2020-2024.

In addition, Census 2022 asked a question for the first time on renewable energy sources. These results show that just less than one in four households reported using at least one renewable energy source (such as solar panels or air source heat pumps) and for those built since 2016, more than 70% of dwellings used at least one renewable energy source. Tellingly, in 2011 turf was removed from the basket of goods and services.

In 1980, 15% of total household expenditure was on transport which includes the cost of buying private vehicles and their maintenance costs. The proportion spent on transport in 2023 was relatively unchanged at 14%.

However, there are differences depending on where you live, with rural households spending 17% of total expenditure on transport in 2023 compared with 13% spent by urban households. Rural households tend to have a greater reliance on private transport and on average spent €56.29 per week on petrol, diesel, and motor oils compared with €30.55 for urban households. In contrast, urban households’ expenditure on public transport was almost three times that of rural households (€6.18 compared with €2.29). In addition, the types of cars we are driving are changing with 19% of new private cars licensed for the first time in 2023 being electric, up from just 1% in 2018.

We can see that in 1980, expenditure on clothing and footwear accounted for just under 9% of households’ spending. By 2023 that had more than halved and stood at less than 4%. Fashion trends have clearly evolved and changed over the past four decades. For instance, in 1980, the CSO’s basket of goods was still tracking the cost of corsets for women and men’s two-piece wool suits. In 2017 ladies two-piece suits and girl’s skirts were removed from the basket of goods and services. Online purchase of clothing and footwear is now quite common. Results from the CSO’s Household Digital Consumer Behaviour 2024 survey show that almost eight in ten (77%) internet users purchased clothes online (includes sports clothing), shoes or accessories (includes bags, jewellery, etc.), sometime in the three-month period before they were interviewed.

These are just some of the ways the CSO can track changes over time. The CSO has a wealth of information where you can compare data and more information can be found on CSO.ie or our social channels.