Spending by British households is on the increase, indicating people are feeling less squeezed under an improving economy.
Last year, people spent more money than they did the year before, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics.
On average, £531 a week was spent, thus bringing up the level to that which prevailed at the time the recession struck.
Household spending had peaked in 2004 and 2005, well before recession even loomed.
It declined every year since, reaching a nadir of £507 in 2012. It has been climbing since then.
The most money was spent on transport, housing and energy, recreation and culture, followed by food and drink.
Transport was the costliest item for people, accounting for an average £75 per week. Nearly £69 per week was given over to recreation and culture, including holidays and computers. This was the category which saw the greatest increase.
Least spending was devoted to alcohol and tobacco (£12), education (£10 per week) and health (a mere £7).
The highest spending families were in London, the South East, East and South West. Londoners spent the most on housing while people in the South East spent the most on transport.
Most frugal households were in North East England, Wales, Yorkshire, and the West Midlands.
Scotland’s families and those in Northern Ireland were in the middle range, spending £474 and £484 respectively.
UK households spent during an average week:
- £6.40 on mobile phone fees
- £4 on wine brought home
- £1.90 on chocolate
- £1.60 on newspapers
- 50p on tea
Comments
Read the Portuguese papers, dw. Endless investigations that get no-where into corruption, incompetence and fraud that 'should' have been sorted out before Portugal even joined the EU. 4 million cases in the courts - most of which already have a winner marked in the file.
Then - having contributed nothing beforehand 100,000 impoverished Portuguese arrive in the UK and get housing and benefit subsides that dwarf their countries minimum wage. On or near to which 60% of the Portuguese private sector survive today.
And the Brit here just gets endless deception, over charging, intentional bad advice and obstruction. Can a Portuguese in the UK say they suffer the same?
I'm finding it increasingly difficult to follow your anti-Portuguese comments. I wonder whether the expat Portuguese make similarly disparaging internet comments in their new country. I'm guessing they have better things to do.
So when is the northern EU going to introduce quotas of nationalities like the Swiss? As Front National in France has talked of doing. So shipping tens of thousands of Portuguese who are 'over quota' back here to Portugal.
But no Portuguese can argue with quotas. They gave everyone else the idea having had as near to a zero 'economically active' quota for northern EU incomers to Portugal for as long as they have been in the European Union. What 'goes around comes around' as they have been saying for centuries on Fairgrounds.