Romanian households allocate the highest share of income on food in the EU

Most of the expenses registered by Romanian households go to food and non-alcoholic beverages. This category represented 25.2% of Romanians' expenses in 2021.

The figure places Romanians in first place in the EU when it comes to the share of the total household budget dedicated to food. Nevertheless, it is now lower than in 2020, when it stood at 26.4%, according to Eurostat data cited by Profit.ro.

Expenses connected to housing, water, electricity, and gas, came in second place, taking 18.1% of the total budget of an average Romanian household. Transportation was third, with 12.2%.

Only 7.2% of the expenses were allocated by Romanians for furniture and household equipment, while the expenses for clothing and footwear were a mere 6.7%, a percentage similar to that intended for culture and recreational activities.

5.5% of Romanians' expenses go to alcoholic beverages and cigarettes, the percentage being above the 4.3% recorded at the EU level. The same figure exceeds the one representing the percentage of the total budget that is allocated to health, namely 5.2%.

On average, the "Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels" category represented a quarter of EU household spending, down 0.5 percentage points compared to 2020, but still the most significant expenditure. Compared to Romanians, other Europeans spent only 14.3% of their budget on food and non-alcoholic beverages. About 8% of Europeans' spending is dedicated to culture and recreational activities.

(Photo source: Stokkete/Dreamstime)