Compared to Q4/2023, the total monthly average income per household and the total monthly average income per person increased by 14.2%.
In Q4/2024, the total monthly average expenditure of the population was RON7,277 per household (RON2,908 per person) and accounted for 84.9% of the total income, higher by RON264 per household compared to Q3/2024. As against Q4/2023, the total monthly average expenditure per household and the total monthly average expenditure per person increased by 11.7%.
In QIV 2024, the monthly average money income was RON7,958 per household (RON3,181 per person), up 3% from Q3/2024, and the in-kind income was RON609 per month per household (RON244 per person), increasing by 15.2% compared to Q3/2024. Gross salaries and other salary rights amounted to RON5,654 per month per household and were the most important source of total income (66.0% of the total household income, lower by by 0.3 percentage points compared to Q3/2024). Significant contributions to the formation of the total household income came from social benefits, with RON1,802 per month per household (21.0% in Q4/2024 and 21.2% in Q3/2024, respectively, of the total household income), and by the in-kind income (7.1% in Q4/2024 and 6.4% in Q3/2024, respectively), which consists of the value of the in-kind income obtained by employees and recipients of social benefits (1.7% in Q4/2024 and 1.4% in Q3/2024, respectively) and the value in lei of the food and non-food products consumed from own resources (5.4% in Q4/2024 and 5.0% in Q3/2024, respectively).
As regards the area of residence, the level of the total monthly average income per household in Q4/2024 was RON9,454 in urban areas, 1.3 times more than in the rural area, and the income per person was RON4,045, 1.5 times more than in rural areas.
In terms of the structure of total income, in Q4/2024, in urban areas, the share of gross salaries and other salary rights in the total income was 71.8%, i.e. 14.8 percentage points more than in rural areas. In rural areas, the income from social benefits accounted for 21.0%, both in urban and rural areas. The share of the in-kind income was 11.6% in rural areas, i.e. 2.8 times higher than in urban areas.
In Q4/2024, the monthly average money expenditure was RON6,814 per household (RON2,723 per person), 3.3% higher than in Q3/2024. The equivalent value of the consumption of food and non-food products from own resources was, on average, RON462 per month per household (RON185 per person) in Q4/2024, higher by 11.7% compared to Q3/2024.
In Q4/2024, the main purposes of the expenditure incurred by households were consumption (money consumption expenditure and the equivalent value of the human consumption from own resources), with RON4,462 per month per household (61.3%), and the transfers to public and private administration and to social insurance budgets in the form of taxes, contributions, dues, fees with RON2,330 per household (32%), as well as meeting the needs related to household production (money expenditure and the equivalent value of the fodder-related consumption from own resources), with RON139 per household (1.9%).
Depending on the area of residence, there are differences in the level of the total monthly average expenditure. In urban areas, the monthly average expenditure per household was RON7,951, i.e. 1.2 times higher than in rural areas. This means that one person from an urban area spent, on average, RON3,402 per month, 1.4 times more than one person from a rural area. In terms of the structure of the total expenditure, in urban areas, the share of the expenditure on taxes, contributions, dues and fees in the total expenditure was 35.4%, i.e. higher by 8.4 percentage points than in rural areas, while, in rural areas, the share of the equivalent value of the consumption of food and non-food products from own resources in the total expenditure was 11.1%, i.e. 3.5 times higher than in urban areas.
According to the standard Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP), food and non-alcoholic beverages, amounting to RON1,474 per household, had a significant share in the total consumption expenditure of households (33%). These are followed, in terms of size, by the monthly expenditure on dwelling, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, amounting to RON690 per household, with a share of 15.5% in the total monthly average consumption expenditure, by the expenditure on clothing and footwear, amounting to RON399 per household with a share of 8.9% in the total monthly average consumption expenditure and the expenditure on alcoholic beverages and tobacco, amounting to RON322 per household, with a share of 7.2% in the total monthly average consumption expenditure.
The lowest level of expenditure was that incurred on education, with RON25 per household (0.6% of the total monthly average consumption expenditure).