The pie charts compare the proportion of spending on five different categories by average households in Japan and Malaysia in the year 2010. Overall, other goods and services and food recorded the highest figures in Japan, whereas housing was the dominant expense in Malaysia. While Malaysia allocated less for Transport while the reverse was true for Japan. Of particular note was health care, which illustrated the smallest proportions in both countries.
• Looking first at the sectors that attracted the most funding, unspecified goods and services attracted 29% in Japan and 26% in Malaysia. A similar pattern was observed in food. The share of the budget allocated to food in both countries was 24% and 27% respectively. By contrast, there was a relatively noticeable difference between the two countries in terms of housing spending, with Malaysia taking the lead. Malaysia exceeded Japan by around 13%.
• In terms of the lesser expenditures, the share of the budget for health care was slightly higher in Japan than in Malaysia, with a difference of 3%. A similar trend can be observed in transport, where Japan significantly outperformed Malaysia. Transport accounted for 20% of household expenditure in Japan, which was exactly double the 10% recorded in Malaysia.