Just 8.7% of expenditure by Irish households in 2018 was on food and non-alcoholic beverages, according to the European statistical office EuroStat.

Ireland ranks the second lowest of any EU country, with only UK households spending less on food (7.8%).

In contrast, households in Romania spent over one fifth of total household consumption expenditure on food and non-alcoholic beverages (27.8%).

On average, 12.1% of total expenditure by EU households was on food.

Across the entire EU, spending on food was the third-largest category of expenditure after housing, water, electricity, gas and fuel (24%) and transport (13%).

Restaurants

In Ireland, food drops to the fourth-largest category of spending, with restaurants and hotels in second, accounting for 17% of spend.

Between 2008 and 2018, the share of total household expenditure on food decreased or remained stable in most EU countries.

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Irish household spend on food second-lowest in the EU

In Ireland, food is just the fourth-largest category of spending by the average household.