The table illustrates the percentage distribution of consumer expenditure across three categories: food/drink/tobacco, Clothing/shoes, and leisure/education in five different regions for 2002.
The notable trend is that food/drink/tobacco accounted for the dominant share of expenditure in all of them, whereas the minimum budget was allocated to leisure and education. Turkey scored the top in spending in all categories except for clothing, with 32.14% for essential goods, followed closely by Ireland with 28.91% and Sweden with its modest share of 15.77%. In contrast, Italy led in spending on clothing/shoes, dedicating 9%, while Sweden’s share in this section was 5.40%. Regarding leisure and education, Turkey again topped the list with 4.35%, whereas Spain had minimal expense allocation at just about 1.98%.
Overall, there is a clear pattern of prioritizing essential goods such as food and drink over other items, which was particularly evident in Turkey’s higher expenditure on most categories. Spain’s minimum spending on leisure and education might clearly indicate a regional emphasis on fundamental necessities.