Highlighted by a 12.7% increase in food purchases, average consumer expenditures were way up in 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.
The Consumer Expenditures report said that average annual expenditures for all consumer units in 2022 were $72,967, a 9% increase from 2021.
Overall, the report said expenditures increased faster than income in 2022. Average annual income before taxes rose 7.5% in 2022, while expenditures increased 9%.
The rise in consumer expenditures exceeds the government’s inflation measure for 2022. The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rose 8% in 2022.
Spending buckets
The average annual expenditures for 2022 were broken down into 14 major components, according to the report.
Overall, housing accounted for the largest share (33.3%) of expenditures, followed by transportation (16.8%), food (12.8%), personal insurance and pensions (12%), and health care (8%), the report said. Each of the remaining categories contributed less than 5% of total expenditures.
The report said that among the 14 major components of household spending, the largest percent increase in expenditures was in cash contributions (up 14.1%). The next largest increase was in food (up 12.7%), followed closely by a 12.3% rise in personal care products and services spending, and a 12.2% increase in transportation spending. The only major component to decrease from 2021 to 2022 was entertainment (down 3.1%), according to the report.
Food budget
The report said spending on food increased 12.7% in 2022, compared to an increase of 13.4% in 2021. The increase was driven by food-away-from-home (restaurant) spending, up 20.1%, accompanied by an increase in food-at-home spending (grocery), up 8.4%.
“Expenditures for food away from home in 2022 exceeded 2019 levels, marking the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic that this has happened,” the report said.
Average consumer spending on fresh fruit in 2022 was $406, up 7.4% from $378 in 2021, according to the report. For fresh vegetables, average expenditures in 2022 were $352, 7.3% above $328 in 2021.
