Survey: $21,000 annual household expense

Almost one third goes to housing

Local families spent an average of $20,760 yearly on household expenses, according to a report published by the Central Administration of Statistics (CAS) on March 1st. The period covered by the study is from June 2011 to June 2012.

On top of the list of expenditures are housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels which represent 29 percent of the average total expenditures. “Rental cost rose due to large demand from Syrian refugees and citizens who are not able to purchase new apartments,” said Ghassan Ghosn, Chairman of the General Confederation of Labor Unions.

Expenses on food, mostly on vegetables and meat, as well as non-alcoholic beverages ranked second with 21 percent.

Transportation amounted to 13 percent of the family budget. “Demand for small cars is soaring due to their low cost and prices. Many families have two to three cars which will automatically raise their fuel expenditures,” said Elie Madi, Operations Manager at Medco, a local petroleum importer.

Health eats up eight percent of family budgets, with spending focused on pharmaceutical products. Education registered six percent. Costs were mainly registration and tuition fees.

The report is the second by CAS since its last household survey published on the 2004-2005 period.