Grocery bills are not taking a bigger share of income: research

Photo: DutchNews.nl

Dutch households are spending a slightly smaller proportion of their income on groceries than six years ago, according to new research by ABN Amro.

The study, which analysed data from 150,000 households, found that the share of income going to groceries has fallen from 14.2% to 14%. Although families are spending more in absolute terms, their incomes have risen faster than living costs.

“Grocery prices have increased significantly and households are spending more on them compared to seven years ago. Nevertheless, cost of living is improving because incomes have risen more sharply than fixed expenses and groceries,” ABN Amro said.

ABN Amro’s analysis focused only on salaried households, meaning that people on benefits were not included.