Housing eats up record 34pc of spending by Hongkongers
Household expenditure survey brings out how less well-off are spending more on housing and food as the wealth gap widens in the city
Housing eats up a record 34 per cent of Hongkongers’ monthly spending, as the cost of having a roof over one’s head in the city is 40 per cent higher than five years ago, according to the latest official statistics from the government.
The five-yearly household expenditure survey used to adjust the Consumer Price Indices (CPI) further indicated on Friday that food had also taken up a larger chunk of expenditure for half of the city’s population.
“This is an obvious indication of poverty,” Chinese University professor Wong Hung said. Food should not take up more than a third of a household’s monthly expenditure, he said, but “the wealth gap has clearly widened over the past five years”.
The survey also showed the lowest spending quarter of the population used up 43 per cent of their monthly expenditure on food. For this group, food and housing took up 71 per cent of monthly expenditure.
On average, households spent HK$9,894 a month on housing in the 2014-15 fiscal year.
Census and Statistics Deputy Commissioner Stephen Leung Kwan-chi attributed the increase to rising rents in the private property market, even though the latest trend indicates higher supply and lower prices.