Statistics Iceland has released results from the household expenditure surveys for the years 2011-2016. Results are presented in three issues of the Statistical Series for the years 2011-2014 (at 2014 prices), 2012-2015 (at 2015 prices) and 2013–2016 (at 2016 prices). The results are broken down by type of household, residence, quartiles of disposable income and quartiles of total expenditures. The results are compared with results from previous household expenditure surveys.
Average household expenditures were fairly constant for the years 2011-2016 at fixed prices. Household expenditure in 2013–2016 were 520 thousand ISK a month but were 558 thousand ISK a month in 2011-2014. Expenditures for food and non-alcoholic beverages decreased by close to 20% in 2011-2016 and resulted in 13.1% of total expenditure in 2013-2016 compared with 15.6% in 2012-2015. On the other hand, categories such as transport and recreation and culture increased. The average household inhabits 2.7-2.9 individuals.
The 2013-2016 results indicated insignificant differences in expenditures by residence, except for housing.
The average household disposable income in 2013-2016 was 857 thousand ISK per month (at 2016 prices). Household disposable income for all groups was higher than their expenditures but the average household expenditures amounted to 60.7% of the households’ disposable income. The sample in 2013-2016 was 4,850 households, of which 1,678 participated, a response rate of 34.6%.
The household expenditure survey is published in three Statistical Series each including four years results. Survey time arrangement is determined by small sample sizes per year summarized over a few years. Former published results were based on three year averages. These results take into account lower response rates in 2013-2015 than before. The research has been improved in order to minimize response burden for participants and simplify processes, which lead to increased response rates.
Household expenditure survey 2011-2014 - Statistical Series
Household expenditure survey 2012-2015 - Statistical Series
Household expenditure survey 2013-2016 - Statistical Series