Survey points to growing affluence

THE Central Statistics Office’s Household Budget Survey, which was released yesterday, makes interesting reading.

It covers the five-year period from 1995 to 2000.

Spending in the average household amounted to 577 per week, which was up by 53% over the previous five-year survey. Some of the more notable increases in spending were on food, which was up by 31%, while spending on transportation was up by 67% to 95 a week. Spending on alcohol and tobacco increased by 45.6%, and by almost 39% on clothes. During the same period, spending on fuel and lighting increased by 11%.