For release: 10:00 a.m. (EDT), Tuesday, September 25, 2012 USDL-12-1937
Technical Information: (202) 691-6900 • CEXInfo@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/cex
Media Contact : (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov
CONSUMER EXPENDITURES--2011
Average annual expenditures per consumer unit(1) rose 3.3 percent in 2011
following a decrease of 2.0 percent in 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics reported today. The rise in spending in 2011 barely outpaced the
3.2-percent increase in prices for goods and services from 2010 to 2011, as
measured by the average annual change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U).
This was the first yearly increase in spending since the 1.7-percent rise from
2007 to 2008, as expenditures had declined in both 2009 and 2010.
All major components of household spending increased in 2011, as shown in table
A. The 8.0-percent rise in transportation spending was the largest percentage
increase among all major components. Overall spending on food and cash
contributions (including payments for support of college students, alimony and
child support, and giving to charities and religious organizations) both
increased by 5.4 percent. Other spending highlights include a 4.9-percent rise
in health care spending, and modest increases in housing (+1.5 percent),
apparel and services (+2.4 percent), entertainment (+2.7 percent), and
personal insurance and pensions (+0.9 percent).
Table A. Average annual expenditures and characteristics of all consumer units
and percent changes, 2009-2011
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Percent change
Item 2009 2010 2011 2009-2010 2010-2011
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Number of consumer
units (000’s) 120,847 121,107 122,287
Average age of
reference person 49.4 49.4 49.7
Average number in
consumer unit:
Persons 2.5 2.5 2.5
Earners 1.3 1.3 1.3
Vehicles 2.0 1.9 1.9
Percent homeowner 66 66 65
Income before taxes $62,857 $62,481 $63,685 -0.6 1.9
Average annual
expenditures 49,067 48,109 49,705 -2.0 3.3
Food 6,372 6,129 6,458 -3.8 5.4
At home 3,753 3,624 3,838 -3.4 5.9
Away from home 2,619 2,505 2,620 -4.4 4.6
Housing 16,895 16,557 16,803 -2.0 1.5
Apparel and services 1,725 1,700 1,740 -1.4 2.4
Transportation 7,658 7,677 8,293 0.2 8.0
Health care 3,126 3,157 3,313 1.0 4.9
Entertainment 2,693 2,504 2,572 -7.0 2.7
Cash contributions 1,723 1,633 1,721 -5.2 5.4
Personal insurance
and pensions 5,471 5,373 5,424 -1.8 0.9
All other expenditures 3,404 3,379 3,381 -0.7 0.1
_____________________________________________________________________________
1 Consumer units include families, single persons living alone or sharing a
household with others but who are financially independent, or two or more
persons living together who share expenses.
Spending by selected demographics
Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) data measure how consumers allocate their
spending among the various components of total expenditures. For example,
table B compares the share allocated to selected expenditures by income
quintiles. The lowest income quintile allocated more money to food and
housing than the other quintile groups. The highest income group allocated
more money to personal insurance and pensions (including payments for life
insurance, other nonhealth insurance, pensions, and Social Security) than
any other group. No clear trend existed for the share allocated to
transportation and health care among the income quintile groups.
Table B. Shares of average annual expenditures on selected major components by
income quintiles, 2011
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Lowest Second Third Fourth Highest
Item 20 20 20 20 20
percent percent percent percent percent
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Food 16.1 14.5 13.3 13.0 11.6
Housing 39.9 37.8 35.2 32.8 31.0
Transportation 14.8 16.0 17.9 17.8 16.1
Health care 6.8 8.1 7.8 7.0 5.4
Personal insurance & pensions 1.9 5.3 8.3 11.2 15.9
_____________________________________________________________________________
Spending patterns, 2009-2011
Table C shows amounts spent for selected expenditure components
over the 3-year period from 2009 to 2011. Spending changes included:
• Mortgage interest and charges for owned homes, a subcomponent of housing,
fell from $3,594 in 2009 to $3,184 in 2011.
• Natural gas expenditures fell from $483 in 2009 to $420 in 2011, a
13.0-percent decrease.
• Expenditures on gasoline and motor oil increased 33.7 percent during the
period, with a 24.5-percent increase from 2010 to 2011. The spending
increase can partly be explained by the yearly rise in the price of
gasoline during 2010 (+18.4 percent) and 2011 (+26.4 percent), as
measured by the CPI-U.
• Health care spending rose from $3,126 in 2009 to $3,313 in 2011.
The overall increase in health care spending was driven by a 7.7-percent
increase in health insurance spending during the period. The level of
spending for health care has increased every year starting in 1996,
while the level of spending for health insurance has increased every year
starting in 1997.
• Cash contributions fell 5.2 percent from 2009 to 2010, then rose almost
by the same margin from 2010 to 2011 (+5.4 percent).
Table C. Average annual consumer expenditures for selected components,
2009-2011
_____________________________________________________________________________
Item 2009 2010 2011
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Mortgage interest and charges $3,594 $3,351 $3,184
Natural gas 483 440 420
Gasoline and motor oil 1,986 2,132 2,655
Health care 3,126 3,157 3,313
Cash contributions 1,723 1,633 1,721
_____________________________________________________________________________
Consumer Expenditure Survey data include the expenditures and income of
consumers, as well as the demographic characteristics of those consumers.
Tables with more expenditure detail are available at www.bls.gov/cex.
Published tables provide 2011 CE data by standard classifications that include
income quintile, income class, age of reference person, size of consumer unit,
number of earners, composition of consumer unit, region of residence, housing
tenure, type of area (urban-rural), race, Hispanic origin, occupation, and
education. Standard error tables are available for most of the demographic
breakouts. Other tables available on the website include expenditures by age,
region, size, or gender cross-tabulated by income before taxes and other
demographic variables. Historical tables back to 1984 and tabulations for
selected metropolitan areas are also available.
Other available data
A forthcoming Annual Report will include a brief discussion of expenditure
changes in 2011 and tables with data classified by the standard
characteristics that are included on the website. Future articles in the BLS
Beyond the Numbers web report series will highlight recent trends in prices
and spending in the U.S. economy, and will feature 2011 CE data. Recent
CE-specific Beyond the Numbers articles provide analyses of topical economic
issues and long term spending trends, as well as comparisons of CE data to
other data series (see http://www.bls.gov/cex/csxwebarticles.htm).
Methodological and analytical articles using CE data will be published in
2013. All data published in the Annual Report and posted to the website are
integrated from the two CE components—the quarterly Interview Survey and
weekly Diary Survey.
Other survey information available on the Internet includes answers to
frequently asked questions, a glossary, order forms for survey products, and
analytical articles that use CE data. Also available are the Diary Survey
questionnaire form and a modified version of the computer assisted personal
interview (CAPI) instrument used to collect the Interview Survey data.
The 2011 CE public-use microdata, including Interview Survey data, Diary Survey
data, and paradata (information about the survey process), are now available
on the CE website for free electronic download. The Interview files contain
expenditure data in two different formats: MTAB files that present monthly
values in an item-coding framework based on the CPI pricing scheme, and EXPN
files that organize expenditures by the section of the Interview questionnaire
in which they are collected. Expenditure values on EXPN files cover different
time periods depending on the specific questions asked, and the files also
contain relevant non-expenditure information not found on the MTAB files. Past
releases of CE public-use microdata that were previously only available on
CD-ROM for purchase will become available on the CE website for free
electronic download. The 2010 release is already available online. Prior
releases will be posted incrementally online in reverse chronological order
through the 1996 release. For releases prior to 1996 and those not yet
available online for download, users can continue to purchase CDs using the
public-use microdata order form (see http://www.bls.gov/cex/pumdhome.htm).
All future releases of public-use microdata will solely be available online
for free electronic download.
For further information, contact the Division of Consumer Expenditure Survey,
Office of Prices and Living Conditions, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2
Massachusetts Ave., N.E., Washington, DC 20212-0001 or call (202) 691-6900;
E-mail: cexinfo@bls.gov. Information in this release will be made available to
sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Federal
Relay Service: 1 (800) 877-8339.
United States Department of Labor
