Kazakhstanis spend almost half of their income on food - research
According to a study by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), which regularly monitors household spending on food in 104 countries around the world, Kazakhstan is ranked 96th entering the list of ten outsiders, Strategy2050.kz cities Ranking.kz.
Thus, the share of food items in the total structure of consumer spending in the country amounted to 44.9%. In this ranking, Kazakhstan is located between Uganda (44.2%) and Cameroon (45.3%). Countries such as Cambodia, Ghana, Guatemala, Pakistan, Vietnam, Honduras and many others are ahead of Kazakhstan.
It is worth noting that the more developed and rich a country is, the smaller the share of expenses the population spends on groceries. The United States, Singapore, Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, Switzerland, Australia and Austria, whose residents spend less than 10% of their income on food, topped the rating. Germany and the Netherlands also entered the top ten countries - 10.7% and 11.4%, respectively.
For comparison: in Russia and Belarus, the share of food expenditures was 28% and 32.2%, respectively.
Kazakhstan’s internal data as a whole confirm the situation. According to the Statistics Committee of the Ministry of National Economy, in the third quarter of 2019, the total amount of household expenses amounted to 569.6 thousand tenge, of which 284.3 thousand tenge, or 49.9%, accounted for food products. At the same time, the share of food products in total household expenditures is gradually growing.
The direct costs of food and non-alcoholic beverages in the third quarter of 2019 amounted to 262.9 thousand tenge. Of these, most is spent on meat and meat products (35.4%), bakery products and cereals (14.2%), dairy products (9.9%), fruits (8.5%), sugar, confectionery and sweets (7.5%).
Thus, the majority of the population of Kazakhstan has to spend real income on the most necessary goods and services, and above all - on food. As a result, this does not allow the population to make savings.
