Cyprus Mail 2 January 2020 - article by Annette Chrysostomou
With 9.1 per cent of total consumption expenditure, Cyprus is in seventh place among EU member states when it comes to spending money on eating out, a new Eurostat report reveals.
The figures, from 2018, place Cyprus slightly lower than Portugal (9.2 per cent) and ahead of Italy (7.8 per cent).
In 2018, households in the European Union spent over €600 billion on ‘catering services’ such as restaurants, cafés and canteens.
On average, household expenditure on catering services represents 7 per cent of total consumption expenditure.
The share of household expenditure devoted to catering services was largest in Ireland (14.4 per cent), ahead of Spain (13 per cent), Malta (12.6 per cent) and Greece (12.4 per cent, 2017 data). In contrast, the lowest share was recorded in Romania (1.9 per cent), followed by Poland (3.0 per cent) and Lithuania (3.4 per cent).
Between 2008 and 2018, the share of total household expenditure on catering services increased in most EU member states where 2018 data is available. The largest increase was recorded in Malta (from 8.2 per cent of total household expenditure in 2008 to 12.6 per cent in 2018, or an increase of 4.4 percentage points (pp), followed by Ireland (+2.9 pp) and Hungary (+2.5 pp).
In contrast, household expenditure on catering services decreased in four EU member states. The largest decrease was recorded in Romania (from 2.9 per cent in 2008 to 1.9 per cent in 2018, or a decrease of 1.0 pp), Spain (-0.8 pp) and Slovakia (-0.5 pp).
