Household expenditures in urban areas increased by 31.4 percent last year (ending March 2014) compared to a year earlier, a new report by the Central Bank of Iran revealed.
According to the report, the gross expenditure for an urban household over the year stood at 284.4 million rials ($8752.6 based on market rate) or 23 million rials ($729.3) per month. In the year ending March 21, 2014, the expenditures for food and beverages soared by 31.5 percent, registering the highest growth among other consuming goods, the report said.
The household expenditure for tobacco rose by 36.3 percent, for clothes and foot-ware by 33.6 percent, for housing and utilities by 36.4 percent, for home appliances and services by 23.6 percent, for healthcare by 35.1 percent, for transportation by 19.2 percent, for communication by 29.8 percent, for entertainment by 29.2 percent, for education by 18.3 percent, for restaurants and hotels by 29.1 percent and for other goods and services by 29.7 percent, it added.
Food and beverages accounted for 26.3 percent (around 74 million rials or $2,299 based on market rate) of the total amount. Among other items in this group, meat accounted for the largest share of gross expenditure by 6.1 percent. Fresh fruits accounted for 4.4 percent, fresh vegetables 3.2 percent, dairy products and eggs 3.1 percent, flour, noodles and grain 2.6 percent and different types of bread and biscuit 1.9 percent.
In late October, the Statistical Center of Iran (SCI) reported that the living cost for each household in urban areas was about 18 million rials per month in the first quarter (spring). The rate for rural areas was slightly more than one million rials per month.
Neither the CBI nor the SCI has yet released any official report on the poverty line in urban or rural areas.
