ACRONYMS National Statistics Institute
27 June 2024

Household Budget Survey (HBS)

Year 2023. Final results

Main results

  • Average household expenditure increased by 3.8% in 2023, to 32,617 euros. Average expenditure per person increased by 4.3% to 13,120 euros.
  • The groups in which average spending per household increased the most were Restaurants and hotels, Leisure and culture, and Clothing and footwear. The only categories where it decreased were Communications and Alcoholic beverages and tobacco.
  • Households with the lowest expenditure (quintile 1) dedicated 63.5% of their budget to Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels and Food and non-alcoholic beverages. Households that spend the most (quintile 5) dedicated more than a third of their budget (34.7%) to Transport, Restaurants and hotels, and Leisure and culture.
  • The autonomous community with the highest expenditure per capita in 2023 was País Vasco (15,572 euros). Extremadura registered the lowest, with 11,103 euros.

Evolution of expenditure

Average expenditure per home was 32,617 euros in 2023, a 3.8% increase as compared with the previous year.

In turn, the average expenditure per person was 13,120 euros, with an increase of 4.3%.

Mean consumption expenditures1 and annual rates. Year 2023

1Average expenditures and their distribution by group are presented in current terms for each year.

Average expenditure per household increased in most groups. Those with the highest growth were:

  • Restaurants and hotels, with an annual rate of 13.2% due to the increase in spending on catering and accommodation services. Households spent 3,311 euros on these items, 386 euros more than in 2022.
  • Leisure and culture, with a change of 9.1%. By components, the largest increase was in tourist packages. The average expenditure per household was 1,651 euros, 138 more than in 2022.
  • Clothing and footwear, with a rate of 8.1% and growth in both categories of clothing and footwear. Households spent 1,319 euros, 99 more than in 2022.

On the other hand, the only groups in which average spending per household decreased were:

  • Communications, recorded a variation of -3.0% and an expenditure of 899 euros.
  • Alcoholic beverages and tobacco, with a rate of -1.2%. 
Mean consumption expenditure per household, structure (%), annual rate and absolute difference by ECOICOP divisions. Year 2023

In terms of the distribution of household expenditure, almost 60% was concentrated into three main groups:

  • Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels with almost a third of the total household budget (31.8%).
  • Food and non-alcoholic beverages, which accounted for 16.4% of the budget. Consumption of Meat (3.6% of total expenditure), Bread and cereals (2.2%), Milk, cheese and eggs (2.1%), Fish (1.8%), Legumes, vegetables, and potatoes (1.8%), and Fruit (1.6%) were the most significant.
  • Transportation, on which expenditure accounted for 11.6% of the total household budget.

Expenditure by type of household

Household type is a differentiating element in terms of expenditure level. Households formed by a couple with children had, on average, the highest expenditure in 2023, with 41,339 euros (1,742 more than in the previous year).

In contrast, the households with the lowest expenditure were those formed by a single person aged 65 or over (with an average of 21,060 euros) and single-person households aged under 65 (21,614 euros), which meant a difference of 554 euros between the two types of household.

All categories increased their expenditure over the previous year. The highest increases occurred in single person households under 65 years of age, with a rate of 5.1% (1,048 euros more than the previous year), and in couples without children (4.8%).

Mean consumption expenditure per household, annual rate and absolute difference by household type. Year 2023

Consumption according to household spending level (spending quintiles)

All five groups of households, according to their level of expenditure, increased compared to the previous year. The fifth quintile had the highest increase, with a rate of 4.9%, an increase of 2,690 euros compared to 2022. In contrast, those in the first quintile recorded the lowest increase of 1.7% (263 euros more than in 2022).

Mean consumption expenditure per household, annual rate and absolute difference according to quintile2. Year 2023

2Households have been ranked by their Average Equivalent Expenditure (AEE). This indicator is calculated as household expenditure divided by the number of consumption units according to the modified OECD equivalence scale, which gives a weight of 1 to the main breadwinner, 0.5 to other members aged 14 and over and 0.3 to children under 14, allowing households of different sizes to be compared. The households have been ranked according to their GGE and grouped into five groups of equal size. The first group (quintile 1) includes the 20% of households with the lowest average equivalised expenditure, and so on down to the 20% of households with the highest expenditure (quintile 5).

With regard to the distribution of consumption among the different expenditure groups, 20% of the households with the lowest expenditure (quintile 1) dedicated more than 63.5% of their budget to Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, and Food and non-alcoholic beverages.

On the other hand, 20% of the households with the highest expenditure (quintile 5) allocated less than half of their budget (39.4%) to this type of expenditure.

On the other hand, 20% of households with the highest spending allocated over one third of their budget (34.7%) to Transport, Restaurants and hotels and Leisure and culture, compared to just over 14.0% of the households with the least spending.

Structure of consumption expenditure by quintiles and ECOICOP divisions. Year 2023

Percentages

Results by autonomous communities

The Autonomous Communities with the highest average expenditure per person in 2023 were the Basque Country (15,570 euros), Illes Balears (14,769) and Comunidad de Madrid (14,650).

In contrast, Extremadura (11,103 euros), Canarias (11,373) and Región de Murcia (11,620) recorded the lowest average expenditure per person.

The average expenditure per person in País Vasco was 18.7% higher than the national average, while that of Extremadura was 15.4% below the national average.

Mean consumption expenditure per person and index on the mean by autonomous communities and cities of residence. Year 2023

Revisions and data updates

This data published today is definitive and incorporates the 2021 census figures, with updated information on population, age structure and household composition, which makes the HBS estimates better.

The change in populations produces a break in the series of data published until now, which prevents homogeneous comparisons from being made. This is why it is necessary to review the data published prior to 2023 and recalculate them, taking into account the new population estimates derived from the 2021 Census.

Initially, the data for 2022 have been recalculated to provide the annual expenditure rate calculated homogeneously.

Secondly, the revision of the detailed results and microdata files for previous years will be published. It will be then when the INE will make the homogeneous series available to users.

All results of this operation are available on INEBase.

Methodological note

The Household Budget Survey (HBS) provides annual information on the nature and destination of consumption expenditure, as well as on various characteristics relating to the living conditions of households.

Consumption expenditure refers both to the monetary flow that the household uses to pay for certain final consumption goods and services, and to the value of goods received as self-consumption, self-supply, salary in kind, free or subsidised meals and rent imputed to the dwelling in which the household resides (when it owns the dwelling or it has been assigned by other households or institutions). Expenditure is recorded at the time of acquisition, regardless of whether it is paid in cash or in instalments.

Type of survey:
Annual.
Population scope:
Private households.
Geographical scope:
Spanish territory.
Reference period for the results:
The calendar year.
Reference period of the information:
Varies according to type of expenditure (see methodology).
Sample size:
24,000 households (approx.).
Sample type:
Two-stage sampling with stratification of the first stage units.
Collection method:
Mixed with direct entry by the household and interviews with the household.

More information can be found in the methodology and the standardised methodology report.

INE statistics are produced in accordance with the Code of Good Practice for European Statistics. More information on Quality at INE and the Code of Best Practices.

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