The table compares the proportion of money allocated to 11 different categories per capita in Australia in 1986 and 2009.
Overall, both housing and food services accounted for the largest share of expenditure in both years, whereas the money spent on communication was slightly lower in 1986.
Focusing on living costs, the percentage of money spent on food decreased from 18% to 15%, followed by transport, just by 1%. In contrast, electricity stood at 7% in 1986, and this was followed by a slight increase to 10% in 2009. Similarly, housing made up 22% initially, and increased to 26%, making it the dominant expenditure by the end of the period.
By contrast, lifestyle and societal categories including, education, recreation and entertainment, insurance and financial services, and other goods and services increased slightly over the period. Despite stood at the lowest share, the proportion of expenditure on communication doubled from 3% in 1986 to 6% in 2009, followed by healthcare increased from 5% to 8%. Noticeable, clothing saw a slight drop from 6% to 4% at the end of the period.
