Average
annual expenditure per household on selected items, ranked by 1998/99
spending, 1988/89, 1993/94, 1998/99 and 2003/04
Many cultural expenditures are more related
to the household than to the individual; for example, the number of
televisions a household buys does not necessarily increase with the
size of the household. This measure is an indicator of changing spending
patterns at the household level (although some allowance must be made
for inflation; between 1998/99 and 2003/04 the CPI increased by 18 per
cent).
Spending increased by more than the inflation
rate in most categories. The exceptions are cinema admissions, which
increased by 16 per cent (slightly less than the CPI), hire of video
tapes, which fell by 3 per cent and expenditure on CDs, records and
tapes, which fell by 20 per cent. These drops reflect a strong move
towards newer technologies since the last survey. Households are now
spending more on subscription TV fees than on hire or buying of video
tapes/cassettes.
Next update 2010
Annual
expenditure ($) per household
% change
1988/89
1993/94
1998/99
2003/04
98/99 to 03/041
Home computer equipment, software
and TV games, total2
96
205
263
380
44%
Home
computer equipment (including pre-packaged software)
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
310
TV games
and computer software
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
70
Television (equipment, hire, etc),
total3
119
152
177
253
43%
Television
(equipment hire etc) excluding home entertainment systems
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
185
Home
entertainment systems
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
69
Video cassette recorders, etc total
60
69
104
160
54%
Video
cassette recorders
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
19
Video
cameras
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
48
Set-top
boxes
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
10
Digital
video disc players/laser disc players and video equipment
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
83
Subscription TV fees4
n.a.
n.a.
37
140
278%
Video cassettes and video discs
(blank and pre-recorded), total
20
37
37
119
221%
Cinema fees and charges
100
62
87
101
16%
CDs, records and tapes, total
32
82
108
86
-20%
Pre-recorded
compact discs and record (audio)
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
83
Audio
cassettes and tapes
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
3
Hire of video cassette tapes and
TV/computer games
37
74
63
61
-3%
Blank
video cassettes and video discs
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
11
Pre-recorded
video cassettes and video discs
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
108
Online charges5
n.a.
n.a.
15
49
227%
Source: Australian Bureau
of Statistics, Household Expenditure Survey, 1988/89, 1993/94,
1998/99 and 2003/04 (unpublished data).
Notes:
n.a. data not available
1. Between 1993/94 and 1998/99 the CPI increased by 18 per cent.
2. Due to classification changes the TV games category has been combined
with home computer equipment and software from 1998/99.
3. Includes TV aerials.
4. Included as a separate category for the first time in 1998/99.
5. Included as a separate category for the first time in 1998/99; includes
Internet service provider charges.
