This is the largest annual reduction recorded since it has been measured and it is due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects that restrictive measures in the member states have had on household consumption expenditure.

The overall reduction in household consumption expenditure is significantly larger than the EU average. All member states recorded decreases, while Cyprus ranks fifth.

Most predominant decreases in household consumption were recorded in Malta (22.0 %), followed by Croatia (16.2%), Spain (15.8%), Greece (15.6%) and Cyprus (14.1%).

On the other hand, the smallest decreases were observed in Slovakia (2.3%), Denmark (2.4%), Lithuania (2.8%) and Poland (3.3%).

The largest decreases in household consumption expenditure were observed for “restaurants and hotels” (38% decrease compared with 2019), “clothing and footwear”, “transport” and “recreation and culture” (all reduced by 17%).

Reductions were also recorded for “education”, “miscellaneous goods and services”, “health” and to a smaller extent “furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance”.

On the other hand, the largest increases were recorded for ‘food and non-alcoholic beverages’ (3%) and ‘communications’ (2%).

A small increase was also recorded for the category “housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels”.

In 2020, over a quarter (26%) of household consumption expenditure was devoted to “housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels”, making it the EU`s largest household expenditure item, ahead of “food and non-alcoholic beverages” (15%) and “transport” (12%).

Cyprus was one of the countries with the lowest levels of household expenditures in the category of “housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels”.

The highest levels of household expenditure were found in Slovakia (30.7%), Finland (30.5%) and Denmark (28.9%), while the lowest levels were observed in Lithuania (15.5%), Malta (16.8%) and Cyprus (18.0%).

Cyprus also ranks third among EU member states regarding the size of household expenditure as a ration to GDP in 2020.

The highest levels of household expenditure were found in Greece (70.3% of GDP), Croatia (65.7%) and Cyprus (64.7%), while the lowest levels were found in Ireland (24.5%), Luxembourg (30.8%), the Netherlands (41.5%) and Sweden (42.7%).

Source: In-Cyprus