The line graph illustrates changes in the proportion of household expenditure on five categories over a 40-year period from 1960 to 2000.
Overall, the majority of figures showed a downward trend, except leisure. Food and clothing were the leading categories at the beginning of the period, however, their figures eventually were surpassed by leisure.
In 1960, food accounted for by far the largest share, standing at around 35%, followed by clothing at 20%. In contrast, leisure and transport had significantly lower figures, both representing 10%. In the last position was energy with 5%.
From 1960 onwards, thew figure for food declined consistently throughout the period, finishing the period at approximately 14%. Clothing followed a similar pattern, decreasing steadily to roughly 13% in the last year. Conversely, leisure experienced a gradual but a consistent growth to a peak of 15% by the end of the period which is the highest figure in the chart. Transport underwent a steady decline to 5% at the end of the period. A similar pattern can be seen in energy, falling to 1% in the final year.
