Posts Tagged “food expenditures”
Average consumer expenditures experienced big increases in 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. Higher costs were highlighted by a 12.7% increase in food purchases.
The Consumer Expenditures report said that average annual expenditures for all consumer units in 2022 were $72,967, a 9% increase from 2021.
Overall, the report said expenditures increased faster than income in 2022. Average annual income before taxes rose 7.5% in 2022, while expenditures increased 9%.
The rise in consumer expenditures exceeds the government’s inflation measure for 2022. The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rose 8% in 2022.
The average annual expenditures for 2022 were broken down into 14 major components, according to the report.
Overall, housing accounted for the largest share (33.3%) of expenditures, followed by transportation (16.8%), food (12.8%), personal insurance and pensions (12%), and health care (8%), the report said. Each of the remaining categories contributed less than 5% of total expenditures.
The report said that among the 14 major components of household spending, the largest percent increase in expenditures was in cash contributions (up 14.1%). The next largest increase was in food (up 12.7%), followed closely by a 12.3% rise in personal care products and services spending, and a 12.2% increase in transportation spending. The only major component to decrease from 2021 to 2022 was entertainment (down 3.1%), according to the report.
The report said spending on food increased 12.7% in 2022, compared to an increase of 13.4% in 2021. The increase was driven by food-away-from-home (restaurant) spending, up 20.1%, accompanied by an increase in food-at-home spending (grocery), up 8.4%.
“Expenditures for food away from home in 2022 exceeded 2019 levels, marking the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic that this has happened,” the report said.
Average consumer spending on fresh fruit in 2022 was $406, up 7.4% from $378 in 2021, according to the report. For fresh vegetables, average expenditures in 2022 were $352, 7.3% above $328 in 2021.