Household spending in the UK has reached its pre 2008 crash levels according to figures released today by the Office of National Statistics.

Total average weekly household spending rose to £554.20 in the financial year ending 2017 which means that after adjusting for inflation, household spending has reached its highest level since 2006 thus has exceeded pre-economic downturn levels for the first time.

It is also a rise of £21.20 in real terms when compared with the previous year.

Transport was the highest spending category.On average, households spent £79.70 a week increase of £5.40 when compared with the previous year.

Recreation and culture was the second highest spending category for the first time, where households spent an average of £73.50 a week on goods and services that fell into this category. This was a significant increase of £5.00 when compared.The increase was largely driven by an increase in spending on package holidays abroad.

Also within this category average weekly household spending on pets and pet food rose by £0.80 to reach £5.40, whilst money spent on the lottery reduced by £0.30 to £1.50.

In the North West, recreation and culture was the top spending category as it was in North East and Yorkshire and The Humber. These three regions were the only regions of the UK that had recreation and culture as the top spending category. This was driven by a few different factors, such as lower spending on housing and a higher proportion of total expenditure on package holidays.

18% of the population are now aged 65 and over and the figures show that age increases, spending pressures and priorities of households change.For example whilst 27% of total expenditure was spent on housing costs for households in the under 30 years age bracket, this reduced to 19% for households aged 65 to 74 years and 18% for households aged 75 and over.

In households in the oldest age bracket  spent 14% of total spending on food and non-alcoholic drink in FYE 2017. This is a much larger proportion of total spending when we compare with the younger age groups.

They also spent 14% of total expenditure on recreation and culture in 2017. This is a high proportion of total spending when compared with households aged less than 65 years. In fact, households with the lowest income in this oldest age bracket spent the same proportion of total expenditure on recreation and culture (10%) as those in the highest income group of the youngest age category.

At the other end of the age scale, Children aged 7 to 15 years were asked to keep a diary of everything they spent their money on within a two-week period. This could be money they received through pocket money, gifts or through a job such as a paper round. The figures show that they spent £12.40 a week

The 2017 edition of Family Spending marks the 60th year of results from a UK household expenditure survey. Since the survey started in 1957, approximately 375,000 households have provided information on their spending habits.

During that time total expenditure on housing has doubled during the last 60 years from 9% to 18% while on the the other hand, the proportion of total expenditure on food has halved (33% to 16%), as has the proportion of total expenditure on clothing (10% to 5%).

In 1957, average weekly household expenditure on tobacco made up 6% of total spending, last year this reduced to 1%.Spending on alcohol has risen and then declined over the 60-year period. In 1957, the proportion of total expenditure on alcohol was 3%, before rising to 5% in the 1970s and 1980s. This then declined, with the most recent data showing that the proportion of total expenditure on alcohol was back at 3%

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here