Household spending

Household spending is the amount of final consumption expenditure made by resident households to meet their everyday needs, such as food, clothing, housing (rent), energy, transport, durable goods (notably cars), health costs, leisure, and miscellaneous services. It is typically around 60% of gross domestic product (GDP) and is therefore an essential variable for economic analysis of demand. Household spending including government transfers (referred to as "actual individual consumption" in national accounts) is equal to households' consumption expenditure plus those expenditures of general government and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISHs) that directly benefit households, such as health care and education. "Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels", one out of the twelve categories distinguished, consist of both actual rentals (for tenants) and imputed rentals (for owner-occupied housing), housing maintenance, as well as costs for water, electricity, gas. Total household spending is measured in million USD (in current prices and Private consumption PPPs), as a percentage of GDP, and in annual growth rates. Household spending including government transfers is measured as a percentage of GDP. Spending in housing is presented as a percentage of household disposable income. All OECD countries compile their data according to the 2008 System of National Accounts (SNA 2008).

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Keywords: expenditure, household, spending