The table illustrates the percentage of consumer spending on three types of products and services, categorized by five nations in 2002.
Overall, Turkey spent the most on both Food/Drinks/Tobacco and Leisure/Education, while Italy devoted the greatest share of its spending to Clothing and Footwear. In addition, all five nations allocated the largest proportion of their expenses for Food, Drinks and Tobacco compared to the other two categories.
Looking first at Food, Drinks and Tobacco, the amount of money spent on these products in Turkey exceeded Sweden by a large margin, at 32.14%, more than double the figure for Sweden, making the former the country spending the most and the latter the least in this category. Moreover, Ireland invested 28.91% of its expenses to this group, ranking second overall. Additionally, there was a minor difference in the proportion of the budget allotted to this group in Italy and Spain, standing at 16.36% and 18.80% respectively.
In terms of Clothing and Footwear, the expenditure for this category in Italy was considerably higher than that in Sweden, at 9% for the former, about 4% more than the figure for the latter, making Italy the biggest and Sweden the smallest spender. Furthermore, there was a minor difference in spending among Ireland, Spain and Turkey, with 6.43%, 6.51% and 6.63% of the nation’s budget being allocated to this group in that order.
Turning to Leisure and Education, Turkey dedicated 4.35% of its spending to this category, for times as many as that in Spain, making these the biggest and smallest investors in this group. In addition, the percentage of money spent on these products and services in Italy was slightly lower than in Sweden, at 3.20% and 3.22% in turn, while the figure for Ireland stood at 2.21%.