People’s habits are changing and so is their consumer spending. For example, products such as clothing, shoes and electronics are losing some of their importance. At the same time, everything that has to do with fun, relaxation and self-optimisation is increasing disproportionately, according to market researcher RegioData.
There were particularly strong increases in spending on in-game purchases, i.e. digital transactions in video games, bicycles, cosmetic surgery, animals and tattoos. Austrians spent 172 percent more on cosmetic surgery compared to 2014. For animals there is an increase of 169 percent, for tattoos it is 113 percent.
159 euros per year for pets
In absolute terms, however, the numbers are still small. The population spends an average of 68 euros per person per year on cosmetic surgery. For pets, it is already 159 euros.
Housing and transport before feeding
By far the largest part of the money continues to flow to homes (excluding heating costs), but according to RegioData it amounts to an average of 4,666 euros per resident per year. That is already 46 percent more than in 2014, while inflation rose by 33 percent in this period. The second largest item is transport (private transport, public transport, data transport).
In third place is food expenditure. Other high items include household energy and catering costs. Austrians spend 89 percent more money on eating out than they did ten years ago.
In total, each inhabitant of Austria has an average of 27,075 euros at his disposal; ten years ago, this was 19,970 euros. However, a total inflation of 33 percent must be taken into account. The consumer spending of RegioData is an annually updated meta-analysis. Data from Statistics Austria and Eurostat are used, among others.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
