Slovaks Spend Highest Share of Expenditures on Housing and Food

Bratislava, February 18 (TASR) – The average Slovak household spent more than one quarter of its monthly expenditures on housing and energy last year, according to data released by Eurostat on Tuesday.

The second most demanding item was food with a 17.2-percent share of total expenditures, up more than 2 percent since 2006.

“Concerning housing, spending on this decreased between 2006 and 2017, as prices on commodity markets fell at the end of the monitored period. However, as of 2018 we’ve seen the prices of energy and rental growing, which means that we’re getting back to the level seen before the crisis years in terms of spending on these items. At that time 2006-17 we spent more than one third of total monthly household expenditures on housing,” said Slovenska Sporitelna analyst Lenka Buchlakova.

While in 2018 Slovaks spent some 2 percent of their monthly expenditures on education, this figure fell to 1.7 percent last year. Slovaks also saved more on recreation and culture, which made up 8.8 percent of total monthly spending, down 2 percent year-on-year. Compared to other EU countries, Slovaks paid out among the highest shares on housing, along with food and non-alcoholic beverages. The introduction of a lower VAT rate on selected foodstuffs failed to lower prices.

According to Buchlakova, plenty of other factors are involved in price-setting, such as the seasonal character of fruit and vegetables. In the case of sugar, its price went down significantly due to the scrapping of quotas and excessive supplies on the market.

Citizens of 27 EU countries spend the highest share of expenditures from family budgets on housing and energy bills – over 24 percent of the total. Transport consumes 13 percent, while food and non-alcoholic beverages account for 12 percent of the average total disposable incomes of households in the EU.