Ηousehold consumption expenditure in the EU increased In 2021 by 4.2% compared with 2020, but is still 4.1% lower than in 2019.
All the EU Member States recorded an increase in household consumption expenditure in 2021, compared with 2020. This represented a partial recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic, when social distancing measures, government restrictions imposed on the movement of people and non-essential economic activities severely affected household consumption expenditure. Still, 16 EU countries have not yet fully recovered.
Malta reported largest decrease from 2019 to 2021. From 2019 to 2021, 16 EU Member States registered a decrease in household expenditure with the largest decrease in Malta (-14.0%), followed by Spain (-9.7%), Austria (-8.4%), Portugal (-6.8%) and Italy (-6.7%). The largest increases were recorded in Romania (+4.7%), Bulgaria (+4.3%), Lithuania (+3.5%), Estonia (+3.1%) and Sweden (+2.8%).