Spending on food grew in 2020 compared with 2019, the Research Institute of Retail Consumer Goods said in a report released on Monday. The report, based in recent official statistics, said that household spending on food grew 3.88 pct to 3,481 euros per household in 2020, from 3,351 in 2019.
The increase was biggest in spending on alcohol (17.76 pct) and household cleaning items (detergents, paper, etc) up 11.24 pct, while spending on personal care fell 9.51 pct and restaurants dropped 33.45 pct. In total, spending on food, including food purchase and consumption in restaurants, fell 7.22 pct to 5,083 euros in 2020.
In the decade 2009-2020, household spending on food and beverage was down 10.28 pct. In the 2016-2019 period, per capita spending on food and beverages grew 3.83 pct to 1,388 euros, while in 2020 spending grew 8.36 pct to 1,449 euros.
The report said that spending on groceries remained below the previous decade's levels, but spending as a percentage of total household purchases rose. In 2009, spending on food accounted for 17.3 pct of average household spending, rising to 23.1 pct in 2020.