The table compares the percentage of national consumer expenditure on three categories – food, drinks and tobacco, clothing and footwear, and leisure and education – in five countries in 2002.
Overall, all countries spent the largest proportion of their budgets on food, drinks and tobacco, while the smallest share went to leisure and education. Turkey recorded the highest spending in all three categories, whereas Sweden and Italy generally spent the least.
In detail, spending on food, drinks and tobacco was highest in Turkey (32.14%) and Ireland (28.91%), while Sweden spent the least at 15.77%. Expenditure on clothing and footwear ranged from 5.40% in Sweden to 9% in Italy. As for leisure and education, the figures were low across all countries, with Turkey again at the top (4.35%) and Spain at the bottom (1.98%).
Overall, consumer spending patterns were similar in all five countries, with essentials such as food and drinks taking up the greatest proportion of expenditure.
