Shocking! The average Hungarian spends 2 EUR on food every day!

Hungarians spend almost as much on accommodation as on food, and they spend as much on alcohol-free beverages than on alcoholic drinks.

Significant regional differences

The Hungarian Central Statistical Office (HCSO) did an analysis on previous year’s data about how Hungarians spent their money in 2017 – reported hvg.hu.

According to the data, an average Hungarian spends 700 EUR on food every year which means that on average, Hungarians buy food for less than 2 EUR per day. Speaking about drinks, Hungarians spend

more than 100 EUR per year on alcoholic beverages

while only 65 EUR on non-alcoholic ones. Of course, tap water is not included in the calculations.

On accommodation, Hungarians spend 60 EUR per month; however, the analysis does not divide between those who pay rent and those who own a flat. According to hvg.hu’s calculations, the average monthly expenses of the Hungarians include:

• 58 EUR on food, 6 EUR on alcohol-free and 9 EUR on alcoholic drinks,
• 33 EUR on energy (electricity, gas and fuel) and 13 EUR on water,
• 30 EUR on transport from which 22 EUR is spent on cars,
• TV, Internet, phone: 20 EUR
• Enterantinment and culture: 18 EUR
• Furniture, household device and household: 30 EUR
• Healthcare: 15 EUR from which approximately 10 EUR is spent on medicine.

Altogether people spend 3,161 EUR on consumption expenditures every year. Of course, differences among the regions of the country are significant regarding how much money people spend on goods not required for self-preservation. For example, on entertainment and culture people living in Budapest and Pest county spend 350 EUR per year, while those living in Western-Transdanubia spend only 200 EUR. The situation is quite similar in case of tourism, too. An average citizen living in Central-Hungary pays 200 EUR in restaurants and hotels, while those living in the Southern part of the Great Hungarian Plain spend only 100 EUR.