In 2016, households in the European Union (EU) spent 4.9% of their total consumption expenditure on clothing and footwear, according to data released today by Eurostat.
In Cyprus total consumption expenditure on clothing stands exactly on the EU median rate (4.9%).
This represents a total expenditure of €395.4 billion, equivalent to 2.7% of EU GDP or €800 per EU inhabitant. Households` annual expenditure on clothing and footwear is therefore slightly higher than the amount they spent on their health.
In 2016, households in Estonia (6.8%) devoted the largest share of their total expenditure to clothing and footwear, followed by those in Portugal (6.3%), Italy (6.2%), Austria (6.1%), Lithuania (5.9%) and Latvia (5.8%). At the opposite end of the scale, the lowest proportions were recorded in Bulgaria (3.2%), Romania (3.4% in 2015), the Czech Republic and Hungary (both 3.6%), Greece and France (both 3.8%), Ireland (3.9%) and Slovakia (4.0%).
Between 2006 and 2016, the share of clothing and footwear in total household expenditure decreased in the vast majority of Member States. The largest fall over this 10-year period was recorded in Lithuania (from 7.8% of total household expenditure in 2006 to 5.9% in 2016, or a decrease of 1.9 percentage points – pp), ahead of Greece (-1.3 pp), Spain (-1.1 pp), Ireland, France, Cyprus and Malta (all -0.8 pp). In contrast, the share of clothing and footwear in total household expenditure increased between 2006 and 2016 in seven Member States, and most strongly in Poland (from 4.6% in 2006 to 5.2% in 2016, or an increase of 0.6 pp), Latvia and the United Kingdom (both +0.5 pp), Hungary and Luxembourg (both +0.4 pp).
