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The estimated average weekly expenditure in 2022-2023 for all households in the State was €1,007.47.
On average, households spent €63.11 per week on Fuel & Light (see Editor’s Note below). This was calculated after the application of electricity account credits.
Spending on Housing (see Editor’s Note below) and Fuel & Light accounted for almost one-quarter (24.6%) of total household expenditure.
Households owned with a mortgage had the highest weekly expenditure in 2022-2023 at €1,448.08, approximately double the expenditure of households that rented (€720.74).
Urban households spent 6.5% more than rural households at €1,030.26 per week compared with €967.52.
Households in the highest income quintile spent almost four times the amount of those in the lowest income quintile at €1,757.16 per week compared with €444.00.
Almost one-quarter (23.0%) of single adult household expenditure was on Housing.
The Household Budget Survey (HBS) collects detailed information on household expenditure. The data is used to measure the cost of living in Ireland. The main reason the survey is conducted is to ensure that the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the official measure of inflation, continues to be based on up-to-date and accurate household expenditure. Households from across the country are randomly selected to take part and are asked to keep a detailed record of household expenditure over 14 consecutive days. Households are also asked for detailed information on all sources of household income and expenditure on items such as mortgages, rent and utility bills. This release represents results of data collected from households between October 2022 and October 2023 and we thank them for their participation.
When we refer to expenditure on energy or Fuel & Light in this release, it includes the spend by households on electricity, gas, oil and solid fuels used by a household for cooking, heating, and lighting.
Expenditure on Housing includes rent, mortgage, home insurance, local property tax, refuse, maintenance products and services, and capital improvements.
The changes in regulation across household surveys introduced by Regulation 2019/1700 result in a re-definition of a household. As a result, caution is advised when making comparisons with previous iterations of the HBS. More information is available in our Information Note.
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (01 August 2024) issued results from the Household Budget Survey (HBS) 2022-2023.
The HBS is a household survey and its data is used to measure the cost of living in Ireland. The main reason the survey is conducted is to ensure that the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the official measure of inflation, continues to be based on up-to-date and accurate household expenditure data. This release represents results of data collected from households between October 2022 and October 2023 (see Editor’s Note for more details).
Commenting on today’s release, Claire Burke, Statistician in the Income, Consumption and Wealth Division, said:
“Today’s results from the CSO’s Household Budget Survey shows the estimated average weekly expenditure in 2022-2023 for all households in the State was €1,007.47. Spending on Housing and Fuel & Light (see Editor’s Note below for definitions) accounted for almost one-quarter (24.6%) of total household expenditure. We can also see that urban households spent 6.5% more than rural households at €1,030.26 per week compared with €967.52.
Expenditure by Tenure
Analysis of weekly expenditure by tenure type shows that households owned with a mortgage had the highest weekly expenditure in 2022-2023, at €1,448.08. This was just over double the expenditure of households that rented (€720.74). Households owned with a mortgage spent the most on Housing (€320.85), almost double the amount (€174.06) spent by households that rented and more than three times the amount (€91.84) spent by households that were owned outright. Households owned with a mortgage spent an average of €215.16 per week on Mortgage payments (for the primary dwelling). Households that rented spent an average of €164.10 per week on Rent (for the primary dwelling). However, as a proportion of overall expenditure, rented households spent the highest proportion on Housing at 24.2%, compared with 22.2% for households owned with a mortgage and 10.0% for households that were owned outright.
Expenditure by Urban and Rural Households
Urban households spent 6.5% more than rural households in 2022-2023 at €1,030.26 per week compared with €967.52. The largest difference in spending between urban and rural households was for expenditure on Housing. In 2022-2023, urban households spent €208.44 per week on Housing compared with €142.71 for rural households.
Rural households spent more on Motor Fuels & Lubricants (€56.29 compared with €30.55 for urban households) and on transport related Insurance, Tax & Fines (€35.63 compared with €25.17). This may be explained by rural households having a greater reliance on private transport. The corollary to this is that urban households’ expenditure on Bus, Luas, Rail & Taxis was almost three times that of rural households (€6.18 compared with €2.29).
Expenditure on Food Consumed at Home by Household Composition
Of the total money spent on Food consumed at home, the proportion spent on Uncooked Meat & Fish was lower for households with children (14.1%) and single adult households (14.8%) when compared with two adult households (17.1%) and households composed of three or more adults (17.5%). Households with children and households composed of three or more adults spent more on Takeaways (9.7% and 9.4% respectively) compared with one adult (5.9%) and two-adult (6.5%) households. To put this in monetary terms, households with children spent on average €16.23 per week on Takeaways compared with €3.36 for one adult households.
Expenditure by Quintile
Households in the highest income quintile, the 20% of households with the highest disposable income, spent on average €1,757.16 per week in 2022-2023. This was just under four times the amount (€444.00) that households in the lowest income quintile spent. Combined expenditure on Fuel & Light and Food accounted for 28.7% of total expenditure for households in the lowest income quintile, compared with 17.9% for households in the highest income quintile.
Combined expenditure on Housing, Fuel & Light and Food accounted for approximately half (51.4%) of total expenditure for households in the lowest income quintile, compared with more than a third (35.5%) of total expenditure for households in the highest income quintile.
Expenditure by Principal Economic Status
Households where the reference person was employed spent €1,190.53 on average per week. Households where the reference person was retired spent €648.89 while other households (where the reference person was unemployed/student/on home duties) spent €587.79.
As a proportion of money spent on Food consumed at home, households where the reference person was retired spent the most on Uncooked Meat & Fish (18.7%) and Fresh Fruit & Vegetables (13.5%). Households where the reference person was employed spent 15.0% on Uncooked Meat & Fish and 11.5% on Fresh Fruit & Vegetables. Households where the reference person was employed spent almost one-tenth (9.8%) of the total expenditure on Food consumed at home on Takeaways. The comparable proportion for households where the reference person was retired was 3.6%.”