UK households spend £398 a week
Average weekly expenditure
by UK households, 2001-02, United Kindom, £
per week
The average UK household spent £398 per
week in 2001-02. Of this, £58 was spent on transport,
which included buying and running vehicles, and public
transport fares.
Recreation and culture was the
next highest spending category, with households paying
out an average of £54 a week. This group contains
a range of items including TVs, computers, newspapers,
books, leisure services and package holidays.
Food purchases contributed £42
to weekly household expenditure - £9 of which
went on meat, £5 on fresh fruit and another
£2 on chocolate and confectionery.
Average weekly spending varies
according to a number of household characteristics.
Households with children tend to spend more than those
without children, and couple households spend more
than single adult households. This is partly a reflection
of the number of people in a household and its income.
However, this pattern differs
for some of the less essential items. For example,
average spending on restaurants and hotels was greater
for single adults without children in the household
(£21.80 a week) than for those with children
(£20.10 a week).
As might be expected, among
those without children the average total expenditure
of couples, at £479 a week was almost double
that of single adult households (£257 a week).
