The bar chart illustrates the average household expenditure in the United States on five categories of goods—namely Food, Clothes, Books, Smartphones, and Toiletries—in 2010 and 2014.
Overall, Food remained the largest spending category in both years, while Books saw a noticeable decline. Expenditure on Smartphones increased significantly, reflecting the rising demand for technology, whereas spending on Clothes and Toiletries showed minimal fluctuation.
In 2010, households spent approximately $3,600 on Food, which rose to around $4,300 by 2014, maintaining its position as the top expense. A similar upward trend can be observed in spending on Smartphones, which climbed from roughly $2,000 to $2,600. This increase may indicate a growing reliance on mobile devices during the period.
Conversely, spending on Books halved, dropping from about $950 to just under $500, making it the least prioritized category by 2014. Meanwhile, expenditure on Clothes remained virtually unchanged at around $2,450. Toiletries saw a modest increase of roughly $100, rising from $1,850 to $1,950.
In summary, while spending on essential goods like Food and emerging technology such as Smartphones increased, non-essential items like Books experienced a sharp decline.