The bar chart illustrates how the money spent on five different categories varied between five main countries, namely the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Japan in 2009. Overall, the largest share of expenditures was allocated to housing in most countries, with Japan being an exception. Furthermore, healthcare and clothing expenditures consistently represented the smallest shares across all countries surveyed.
Looking at the three highest categories, Americans devoted about 26% of their incomes to accommodation, which was the highest figure surveyed . In the UK, housing accounted for 24% of total expenditure, placing it just below the US . Japan and Canada followed closely with 23% and 21%, respectively. Moreover, Japanese spent the greatest amount of money on food at about 23%, which was 3% higher than that of the UK. Additionally, the figure of food for Canada and the US was in between at 15% and 13%, respectively. Transportation costs were notably high in Canada, making up 20% of expenditure, while Japan spent the least in this category at 10%. The US and UK spent moderately at 17% and 15%, respectively.
Regarding medical expenses, the proportion of the US was 7%, twice as much as that of the UK. Healthcare spending in the US was 7%, much higher than in the other countries, where it remained below 5%. Clothing expenditures were relatively low, with Canada at 6%, slightly higher than the UK and Japan, which were both around 4-5% . The US had the smallest share for clothing at 3%.