The given table shows the proportion of expenditure invested in 11 specific categories per capita in Australia over the 24-year period, commencing from 1986.
Overall, most categories showed an upward trend, except food, clothing and transport, which experienced an opposite trend. In comparison, housing remained the largest allocated expenditure category throughout the period.
Regarding categories with an increasing trend, housing ranked first as the largest spent expenditure category, with the highest starting point at 22% in 1986, then rising to 26% by 2009. Similarly, despite starting from a different base in 1986, with 7% for electricity and water and 8% for recreation and entertainment, both ended at 10%, coming as second. Additionally, healthcare and communication showed a minor growth, edging up by 3%. Also, education, insurance and financial services and other goods and services experienced an inconsiderable rise, growing by almost 2%.
Concerning the remaining categories, food started from 18% in 1986, decreasing to 15% by 2009. Similarly, transport also experienced a downward trend but from a lower base, with its figure edging down from 14% in 1986 to 13% by 2009. Notably, the money allocated to clothing was minor, with the figure dropping from 6% in 1986 to 4% by the end of the period.