Consumption expenditure

The results of the Household Budget Survey provide information on the consumption expenditure of private households. Household Budget Surveys are conducted as sample surveys among private households. They survey consumption expenditure and the level of household equipment on the one hand and, on the other, household income and key characteristics of the household members (age, occupation), the home (size, legal relationship) and the household itself. The Household Budget Survey is carried out every five years (compared with every 10 years up until 1993/94).

The results give an insight into the consumer habits of Austrian households and provide information on the living standard and living conditions of different social groups. The data also provide the basis for studies into the distribution of consumption expenditure within different types and sizes of household or special partial populations, also in combination with household income or the level of equipment used in households.

Consumption expenditure and its spread among individual expenditure groups is furthermore a main source for revising the weighting of the basket of goods used for the consumer price index (CPI/HICP). Expenditure data from the Household Budget Survey is also used in the System of National Accounts (SNA) to validate the results of calculations relating to private consumption; at the level of the federal provinces (NUTS2), it is also an analysis tool used for calculating household accounts as part of the Regional Accounts (RGR).

This web site contains results, analyses and background information on the Household Budget Surveys 2009/10, 2004/05 and 1999/2000.