INS: For each 100 lei earned, Romanians spend 16.5 lei on taxes and over 70 lei on consumption

According to the Romanian National Institute of Statistics, for each 100 lei earned in the autumn of 2009, each Romanian family spent 16.5 lei on taxes and duties and 72.5 lei on consumption – food, drinks, supplies etc. People living in the cities have spent, on average, 500 lei more each month than families living at the countryside. But people in cities recorded gains 41.3% higher than people in rural areas.

One fifth of incomes was spent on house bills – water, electricity, heating, natural gas, fuels, furniture, fittings and maintenance. In the third 2009 quarter, consumption fees added to the spending list – 19.4%. The biggest part of house costs, namely 18.4% in the first quarter, 14.3% in the second and 14.4 in the third, were absorbed by main utilities bills.

The average salaries were 1,950 per month per household (672 per person), while gains in kind represented 318 lei per month per household (110 lei per person). Salaries and other associated gains were the most substantial income source – 51.3% out of the total incomes of a household in the first quarter, 52.3% in the second and 52.1% in the third.

During the third 2009 quarter, one household in the urban areas was getting, on average, 41.3% more than households in the rural areas and 14.6%. Households spent on health 4.5% and 0.7% for education out of the total consumption spending. These are low levels mainly caused by the fact that these needs are generally satisfied through public services.