Household consumption almost 15 percent up in April

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© Hollandse Hoogte / Piet den Blanken
According to figures released by Statistics Netherlands (CBS), consumers spent 14.8 percent more in April 2022 compared to April one year previously. They mainly spent more on durable goods and services. The growth is larger than in March 2022. Last year, there were still coronavirus measures in place in April.

Consumption figures have been adjusted for price changes and differences in the shopping-day pattern.

Domestic household consumption (volume, adjusted for shopping days)
Year MonthChange (year-on-year % change)
2018May2.2
2018June2.5
2018July2.7
2018August2.6
2018September2
2018October2.1
2018November2.2
2018December1.7
2019January0.8
2019February0.5
2019March1
2019April1
2019May1.8
2019June1
2019July0.5
2019August0.5
2019September1.3
2019October1.4
2019November1.2
2019December2.4
2020January0.8
2020February1.9
2020March-7.5
2020April-17.4
2020May-12.3
2020June-7.3
2020July-2.6
2020August-2.2
2020September-3.9
2020October-6.1
2020November-6.5
2020December-11.7
2021January-12.6
2021February-11.7
2021March-0.3
2021April12
2021May11.2
2021June6.8
2021July2.6
2021August3.5
2021September4.7
2021October9
2021November9.1
2021December4.8
2022January10.4
2022February13.4
2022March11.2
2022April14.8

Consumers spent more on durable goods and services

In April 2022, consumers spent over 2ent more on services such as telephone and internet subscriptions, insurances, visits to hairdressers, restaurants and football matches compared to April 2021 (adjusted for price changes). Spending on services accounts for over half of total domestic consumer expenditure.

Consumers spent over 8 percent more on durable goods in April year on year. Spending on clothing, footwear and electrical appliances was up in particular. Non-essential shops in particular were still affected by coronavirus measures one year previously.

Adjusted for price changes, there was a year-on-year decrease of almost 2 percent in the consumption of other goods such as energy and water. Consumers did spend more on personal care than one year previously. Finally, consumption of food, beverages and tobacco was down by over 5 percent relative to April 2021.

Three weeks ago, CBS reported that in April 2022 the volume of sales in retail trade grew by 1.8 percent relative to April 2021. The volume of sales in the non-food sector grew by almost 15 percent, but shrank in the food sector by almost 6 percent. These figures have also been adjusted for the shopping-day pattern.

Domestic household consumption by category (volume, adjusted for shopping days), April 2022
 Change (year-on-year % change)
Services27.1
Durable goods8.2
Other goods (e.g. gas)-1.8
Food, drinks and tobacco-5.3
Total14.8