The pie charts illustrate how people in a particular European country spent on different commodities and services differed between 1958 and 2008.
Overall, spending patterns shifted considerably over the 50 years, with housing, travel/transport, and luxury goods showing larger shares of expenditure, while food, clothing, and entertainment all declined. Notably, food was the dominant spending category in 1958, a position that was taken over by housing by 2008.
Looking first at categories with positive changes, people in 1958 allocated about 22% of their spending on housing, after which the number increased significantly to 32% in 2008, leading all other groups in the same year. Similarly, the proportion of allocations to travel/sport and luxury goods also witnessed a nearly 10% rise over the period, with their lowest initial figures being 7% and 8% in 1958, respectively.
Regarding the remaining areas, although food once accounted for most of people’s total spending at 32%, its figure plummeted to 12% in 2008. Entertainment followed a similar trajectory when 13% was spent on this sector in 1958, which then experienced a twofold decrease to 6% in 2008, making it the least spent category. Meanwhile, the percentage of clothing witnessed a much slighter decline from 18% in 1958 to 16% in 2008.