For release: 10:00 a.m. (EDT), Tuesday, October 5, 2010 USDL-10-1390 

Technical Information: (202) 691-6900 • CEXInfo@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/cex 

Media Contact: (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov 

CONSUMER EXPENDITURES – 2009 

Average annual expenditures per consumer unit1 fell 2.8 percent in 2009 following an increase of 1.7 

percent in 2008, according to results from the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) released by the U.S. 

Bureau of Labor Statistics. The spending decrease was larger than the 0.4-percent decrease in prices 

from 2008 to 2009 as measured by the average annual change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U). 

This was the first time there has been a drop in spending from the previous year since the CE began 

publishing integrated data in 1984 from the Diary and Interview components of the CE. 

 

Spending on housing and transportation fell 1.3 percent and 11.0 percent, respectively, contributing to 

the overall drop in spending in 2009. Healthcare expenditures rose 5.0 percent, the only increase among 

the major components of spending. Among the other major components, food dropped 1.1 percent, 

apparel fell 4.2 percent, entertainment dropped 5.0 percent, and personal insurance and pensions fell 2.4 

percent. 

Table A. Average annual expenditures and characteristics of all consumer units and percent 

changes, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2007-2009 

 Percent change 

Item 2007 2008 2009 2007-2008 2008-2009 

Number of consumer units (000’s) 120,171 120,770 120,847 

Income before taxes $63,091 $63,563 $62,857 0.7 -1.1

Average age of reference person 48.8 49.1 49.4 

Average number in consumer unit: 

 Persons 2.5 2.5 2.5 

 Earners 1.3 1.3 1.3 

 Vehicles 1.9 2.0 2.0 

Percent homeowner 67 66 66 

Average annual expenditures $49,638 $50,486 $49,067 1.7 -2.8

 Food 6,133 6,443 6,372 5.1 -1.1

 At home 3,465 3,744 3,753 8.1 0.2

 Away from home 2,668 2,698 2,619 1.1 -2.9

 Housing 16,920 17,109 16,895 1.1 -1.3

 Apparel and services 1,881 1,801 1,725 -4.3 -4.2

 Transportation 8,758 8,604 7,658 -1.8 -11.0

 Healthcare 2,853 2,976 3,126 4.3 5.0

 Entertainment 2,698 2,835 2,693 5.1 -5.0

 Personal insurance and pensions 5,336 5,605 5,471 5.0 -2.4

 All other expenditures 5,059 5,113 5,127 1.0 0.3

1

 Consumer units include families, single persons living alone or sharing a household with others but 

who are financially independent, or two or more persons living together who share expenses. 
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Consumer Expenditure Survey data include the expenditures and income of consumers, as well as the 

demographic characteristics of those consumers. Tables with more expenditure detail are available at 

www.bls.gov/cex. Published tables provide 2009 CE data by standard classifications that include income 

quintile, income class, age of reference person, size of consumer unit, number of earners, composition of 

consumer unit, region of residence, housing tenure, type of area (urban-rural), race, Hispanic origin, 

occupation, and education. Standard error tables are available for most of the demographic breakouts. 

Other tables available on the website include expenditures by age, region, size, or gender cross-tabulated 

by income before taxes and other demographic variables. Historical tables back to 1984 and tabulations 

for selected metropolitan areas are also available. 

Spending patterns from 2007-2009 

Consumer Expenditure Survey data measure how consumers allocate their spending among the various 

components of total expenditures. For example, the 2009 data show that the largest component of 

consumers’ budgets is housing, which accounts for about a third of overall spending. Another use of the 

CE data is to look at how spending patterns change over time. Table B and Chart 1 show how the 

amounts spent for selected expenditure components changed over the 3-year period from 2007 to 2009. 

Changes in total spending and many of its components reflected the impact the weak economy had on 

how consumers allocated their budgets. Spending changes included: 

 Mortgage interest payments and charges, a subcomponent of housing, fell from $3,890 in 2007 

to $3,594 in 2009, evidence of the higher than normal default rate on mortgages, falling house 

prices, lower rates of homeownership, and declining mortgage interest rates over the period. 

 While the price increase in rent of primary residence as measured by the CPI-U increased 6.0 

percent over the period, spending on rented dwellings increased 9.9 percent over the period from 

2007 to 2009. Consumer units within the highest income quintile group increased expenditures 

for rented dwellings from $1,293 in 2007 to $1,911 in 2009. 

 Gasoline and motor oil expenditures fluctuated as the price of gasoline rose and fell sharply 

during the period. Gasoline prices for motor vehicles rose 16.6 percent from 2007 to 2008 and 

dropped 27.4 percent from 2008 to 2009, as measured by the CPI-U. 

 The level of spending on healthcare continued to rise, from $2,853 in 2007 to $3,126 in 2009, 

largely due to the increase in the health insurance subcomponent. 

Table B. Average annual expenditures for selected components, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 

2007-2009 

 

Item 2007 2008 2009 

Mortgage interest and charges $3,890 $3,826 $3,594

Rented dwellings 2,602 2,724 2,860

Apparel and services 1,881 1,801 1,725

Gasoline and motor oil 2,384 2,715 1,986

Healthcare 2,853 2,976 3,126
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Chart 1. Average annual expenditures for selected components, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 

2007-2009 

 

Other available data

A forthcoming annual report will include a brief discussion of expenditure changes in 2009 and tables 

with data classified by the standard characteristics included on the website. Methodological and 

analytical articles using CE data from the past several years will be included in the upcoming Consumer 

Expenditure Survey Anthology, 2010 report. All data published in the annual report and posted to the 

website are integrated from the two CE components—the quarterly Interview Survey and weekly Diary 

Survey. 

Other survey information available on the Internet includes answers to frequently asked questions, a 

glossary, order forms for survey products, and analytical articles that use CE data. Also available are the 

Diary Survey questionnaire form and a modified version of the computer assisted personal interview 

(CAPI) instrument used to collect the Interview Survey data. 

 

The 2009 Diary and Interview microdata are now available for purchase on CD-ROM. CE paradata, 

information about the survey process, are available for the first time this year. The Interview files 

contain expenditure data in two different formats: MTAB files that present monthly values in an itemcoding framework based on the CPI pricing scheme, and EXPN files that organize expenditures by the 

section of the Interview questionnaire in which they are collected. Expenditure values on EXPN files 
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cover different time periods depending on the specific questions asked, and the files also contain 

relevant non-expenditure information not found on the MTAB files. The CE microdata files are 

available on CD-ROM back to 1990 and for selected earlier years. In addition to the standard ASCII and 

PC SAS formats offered in the past, three additional formats are available beginning in 2007—STATA, 

SPSS, and ASCII comma-delimited. (See www.bls.gov/cex/csxmicro.htm for details and ordering 

information.) 

 

For further information, contact the Division of Consumer Expenditure Surveys, Office of Prices and 

Living Conditions, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2 Massachusetts Ave., N.E., Washington, DC 20212-

0001 or call 202-691-6900; E-mail: cexinfo@bls.gov. Information in this release will be made available 

to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone 

number: 1-800-877-8339.