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Family spending dropped in 2009, ONS says

THE recession led to a fall in family spending in 2009, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests.

It said the average household spent £455 a week last year, down from £471 a week in 2008.

It was the first fall recorded by the ONS’s survey in the past 10 years.

The three largest categories of spending were transport, recreation and culture, and housing, fuel and power, with spending in each sector dropping during the year.

“This is the first annual decline in average UK household spend since the current method of recording was introduced in 2001-02, with higher expenditure on some housing related costs such as rent, electricity and gas offset by lower spending on mortgages,” said Giles Horsfield, the editor of the ONS report.

“Lower spending on diesel and fuel contributed to lower expenditure on transport, but reductions were also seen on vehicle purchases and public transport.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .