Living Standards Measurements Study - Serbia 2002 - 2007

Graph 2.4. Household consumption structure
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
7.8 8.1 7.1
4.6 5.2 3.6
3.3
5.8
7.1 2.8
3.4
3.7 9.4
8.5
8.0 3.7
4.1
2.8
4.4
3.1
3.2
15.2
18.6
20.4
4.2
5.2
4.7
3.9 5.7
3.5
38.4
33.7
31.1
4.8 5.3 4.5
1.6 2.1 1.2
2.4
1.9
2.4 3.1 1.9
3.2 3.0 3.7
2.5
3.4 3.3
3.4
3.0 3.0
3.0
19.3
22.9
28.9
2.7
2.7
5.5
5.5
2.7
5.5
47.9
45.8
42.5
Other goods and services
Restaurants and hotels
Education
Recreation and culture
Communications
Transport
Health service
Home furniture, equipment and
maintenance
Dwelling, water, electricity, gas
and other fuel supply
Clothes and footwear
Alcoholic drinks and tobacco
0%
Total
Urban
area
Other
areas
Total -
decile 1
Urban
area -
decile 1
Other
areas -
decile 1
Food and non-alcoholic
beverages
A high share of the costs of housing, water,
power supply, gas and other fuels in the structure of
average household expenditure (particularly in the
households in the initial four deciles, where such
costs constitute one fifth of total expenditure), can
be explained by the obligation upon a household to
settle all the costs within the set deadline in order
that they have access to these service in future.
In the wealthiest decile the share of the costs of
food and beverages in the structure is almost twice
as low as compared to the households in the first
decile (24.1 percent). Along with the costs of
housing, water, power supply, gas and other fuels,
the costs of basic necessities account for 41.6
percent of the available funds of these households.
Almost 60 percent of funds remain at the disposal of
these households for the products and services
belonging to other personal expenditure groups. Out
of that, 10.5 percent of monthly funds are allocated
for recreation and culture, which, in absolute
amounts, is almost four times higher than in the
first-decile households, and constitutes nearly 2/3 of
the costs of food and beverages of the poorest.
In the 2002 -2007 period, a significant growth
in household expenditure was recorded. The
average expenditure increased in nominal terms by
113.9 percent. If we view the expenditure of
households by deciles, the nominal growth ranges
from 105.3 percent to 123.6 percent. The nominal
expenditure growth is followed by a real growth ,
which accounts for 25.5 percent in an average
household and ranges from 20.5 percent to 31.2
percent by deciles of expenditure. 3
38 Living Standards Measurements Study - Serbia 2002 - 2007