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Iran household spending up by almost 20 percent: Government data

Shoppers carry bags at the Iranian capital Tehran's old Tajrish Bazar on April 23, 2019. (AFP photo)

Official data released by the Statistical Center of Iran (SCI) shows that household spending in the country increased by around a fifth in the last Persian calendar year ending in late March.

The SCI said that median household spending for urban families across Iran rose to 393,227,000 rials (above $3,300) last year, up 19.3 percent from the previous 12-month period.

It said median household income also rose by 18.6 percent to reach 434,905,000 rials (above $3,700) is the year ending in March 2019.

The data showed that Iranian households spent over 75 percent of their income on average on non-food items, with housing, fuel and electricity dominating the list.

The SCI said the dominant source of energy used for heating was natural gas provided through the national grid to around 93.7 percent of urban households.

It said that close to 50 percent of the income generated by the Iranians came from miscellaneous family sources, around a third from wages and 17 percent through ventures in the business and agriculture sectors.

Meanwhile, the median household income for rural families stood at 233,114,000 rials (above $2,000), an increase of 15.5 percent compared to the year ending in March 2018, while spending rose by 20 percent to reach 214,472,000 rials (above $1,800), said the report.

Close to 70 percent of the rural households used natural gas for heating and over 20 percent used heating oil, showed the SCI data, adding that around a third of rural households had their income driven from business and agriculture sectors, another third from wages in the government and private sectors while others mostly relied on other family sources.

The report said the highest median household income in Iran based on geographical location was recorded for the capital province of Tehran with 640,330,000 rials (above $5,500) while households in the border province of West Azerbaijan, in northwest Iran, earned around a third of that figure, some 247,711,000 (above $2,100) rials, the lowest recorded in the country.  

Tehran also dominated the list of average spending with 584,676,000 rials (above $5,000) for each household while families in southeastern province of Kerman came last with an average expenditure of 237,415,000 rials (above $2,000).

The latest census carried out in Iran in 2016 put the total number of households at above 24 million, around a fourth of which live in rural regions.


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