The table illustrates the percentage of expenditure on three categories: food/drinks/tobacco, clothing/footwear, and leisure/education, in five European countries (Ireland, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey) in 2002.
Overall, food, drinks, and tobacco accounted for the highest proportion of expenditure in all the countries surveyed, while spending on leisure and education was consistently the lowest. Among the countries, Turkey had the highest overall expenditure percentages.
In detail, Ireland had the largest share of expenditure on food, drinks, and tobacco at 28.91%, followed by 6.43% on clothing and footwear, and 2.21% on leisure and education. Similarly, Italy allocated 16.36% of its expenditure to food, drinks, and tobacco, 9.00% to clothing and footwear, and 3.20% to leisure and education. In Spain, spending on food, drinks, and tobacco was three times higher than that on clothing and footwear, with percentages of 18.80% and 6.51%, respectively.
Sweden had the lowest spending on leisure and education at 3.22%, while its expenditure on food, drinks, and tobacco was 15.77%, and 5.40% on clothing and footwear. Turkey showed the highest spending on food, drinks, and tobacco at 32.14%, and 6.63% on clothing and footwear, while leisure and education received the least allocation at 4.35%.
This comparison highlights that in 2002, European countries prioritized essential items like food and drinks over non-essential categories such as leisure and education, with Turkey exhibiting the highest expenditure across the board.