The average weekly household expenditure on food in 2016 was €123. How do we know this? Because you told us.
The information you give us means we can create a very accurate picture of Ireland, our lives, our economy, our health and our happiness.
The Household Budget Survey (HBS) is a nationwide survey of randomly selected Irish households, carried out by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and is part of an EU-wide programme, that provides important information on:
• The cost of living
• The rate of inflation
The facts we get directly from you through this survey gives us a clearer picture of what households are spending their money on. Participation in this survey helps us update the basket of shopping goods we use to track the cost of living, and in turn is used to measure the rate of inflation. We review this to make sure we are tracking changing spending habits. By participating, you are helping others to understand the impact of the cost of living.
The facts we get directly from you through HBS give us a clearer picture of what households are spending their money on:
• Rental costs and overall spending on housing costs by location
• Helps predict the impact of interest rate increases on households
• Gives insights into the financial pressures on households regarding childcare and education
This survey is vitally important. You have been chosen to take part, please do, it really helps us and ultimately households like yours.
We’ve found previous participants get a better sense of their spending and given the impact of inflation on food, heating and other outgoings; this challenge is timely.
Following the interview, each member of the household aged 16 years and over will complete a 14 day spending notebook.
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.