Finland Times

 

Consumption expenditure in 1985 to 2012 (at 2012 prices, EUR per consumption unit). Source: Statistics Finland.

Households’ consumption expenditure grew in real terms by 41 per cent per household and by 53 per cent calculated per household consumption unit during the 1985 to 2012 period.

 

The Statistics Finland data showed that major changes took place in the structure of households' consumption expenditure in the 1980s and 1990s, but the changes in the 2000s have been minor. 

 

Expenditure on transport, communications, and culture and recreation has grown most during the quarter of a century. Only real expenditure on communications has grown constantly from one Household Budget Survey to the next.

 

In this release, changes in consumption are examined as standardized, i.e. consumption expenditure has been calculated per consumption unit and the consumption of different years has been converted with coefficients to correspond to the 2012 value of money. 

 

Real changes in consumption expenditure thus derived have varied by expenditure item reflecting either the cyclical variations in the economy or the general development of society and changes in technology. 

 

Both the recession of the early 1990s and the slow economic growth over the past few years are clearly visible either as decreased or stagnate consumption. Housing expenditure has constantly been the largest expenditure item and has grown except for the periods of recession. 

 

The shares of transport and food have remained the second largest consumption items throughout the entire 27-year period. The growth in transport expenditure has, however, been faster than that of food expenditure. 

 

The growth in expenditure on culture and recreation has been steady since 1995. The share of communications expenditure of total consumption is still low, even though the growth has been constant and fast. Changes in hotel and restaurant expenditure have been minor.

 

At the end of the 1980s, consumption growth was fast in all main groups of consumption. The recession in the 1990s cut the consumption of households considerably. Between 1990 and 1995, consumption expenditure decreased in all main groups of consumption apart from food and communications. 

 

Expenditure on clothing and footwear, as well as on home furnishings and domestic appliances decreased the most. Despite the recession, households' expenditure on communication increased by 48 per cent.

 

This was affected, among other things, by new devices becoming more common in households. One in five households had a mobile phone and computer in the mid-1990s.