The given table compares the proportion of expenditure per capita in Australia across 11 classifications between 1986 and 2009.
Overall, most categories showed an upward trend, except food, clothing, and transport, which experienced opposite trends. Housing remained the highest expenditure rate throughout the period.
Focusing on categories with an increasing trend, housing saw a steady growth in expenditure, rising from 22% in 1986 to a peak of 26% in 2009, making it with the highest proportion across the period. Similarly, starting from different bases in 1986, with 7% for electricity and water and 8% for creation and entertainment, both ended at 10%. Additionally, healthcare and communication experience nearly doubled, starting from 5% and 3% in 1986 to 8% and 6% in 2009, respectively. Also, education, insurance and financial support and other goods and services showed an increase slightly, growing by almost 2%.
By contrast, food showed a drop moderately, starting from 18% in 1986 to 15% by 2009. Similarly, transport also experienced a downward trend but decreased slightly from 14% to 13%. Notably, the money allocated to clothing was minor, with the figure falling from 6% in 1986 to 4% by the end of the period.