RO households’ consumer expenditures up a mere 1.1% in Q2

The per-capita average monthly monetary incomes (wages, pensions, other benefits) of Romanians increased by 7.7% year-on-year, in nominal terms, to RON 1,822 (EUR 375mn) in the second quarter of 2020 (Q2), according to calculations based on the data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS).

The monetary expenditures rose by only 3.2% year-on-year to RON 1,487 (EUR 306) in the quarter.

Out of this, the average consumption expenses edged up by only 1.1% to RON 860 (EUR 177) per month per capita, while the taxes and contributions rose by 7.3% year-on-year to RON 550.

The average Romanian thus spent only EUR 177 per month for consumption, out of which 37.7% (EUR 67) for food and non-alcoholic beverages, up from 34.2% in Q2 last year.

The share of housing expenditures rose to 15.2% from 14.4%.

The expenditures for education, which represented only 0.6% of the total in the second quarter last year, contracted three-fold to 0.2% in Q2, 2020.

The expenditures for hotels and restaurants also plunged from 2.2% to 0.5% in Q2 this year when restaurants were closed.

Under a different breakdown, the consumption expenditures for food (34% of total) increased by 7.1% year-on-year in Q2, the expenditures for non-food goods (41% of total) rose by 3.1%, and those for services (25% of total) contracted by 8.9%.

In the meantime, thanks to the faster rise in households’ income, the households’ saving capacity increased by 33% year-on-year to RON 336 (EUR 69) per capita in each month of the second quarter.

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