Romanian households spend a third of income on food

Romanian households earn on average some EUR 774 a month (RON 3,569), according to statistical data from the fourth quarter of 2017. Meanwhile, expenses stood at some EUR 663 (RON 3,061) per household. The average income per person in a household was of EUR 295 (RON 1,326), while the average expense stood at EUR 253 (RON 1,168). The majority of a household income was in cash, coming from salaries and other such benefits (over 60% of the revenues), while only some EUR 73 was in-kind revenues. Social benefits made 21.6% of an average household’s revenues, while agriculture revenues, a mere 1.9%. Non-agricultural independent activities brought 2.4% of the revenues, and property and patrimony sales, some 1.5%. In-kind revenues stood at 9.5% of the total, mostly through consumption of home-made ingredients and food. Romanians still spend most of their income on food and drinks (33.5%), non-food items, services and taxes. Investment expenses stand at only 0.3% of the total. The EUR values were calculated at the average exchange rate in Q4 2017, of RON 4.61 per EUR. editor@romania-insider.com