Kuwaiti families spend 75% of monthly income

DINAR DECISION: A new survey has revealed the spending habits of families living in Kuwait. (Getty Images)

The average Kuwaiti family spends nearly three quarters of its monthly income, according to new statistics.

The figures released by the country's Central Statistics Administration (CSA) also reveals that the average monthly income for a local family tops KD2,200 ($7,565).

Of this, KD1,600 is spent and just KD600 is saved each month, according to the figures published by KUNA News Agency.

The statistics are the result of a survey of 768 Kuwaiti families, concluded over a period of six months, from Oct 2007 to March 2008.

The average expenditure and savings of a Kuwaiti family have been found to rate high when compared with a similar family in other GCC states, noted CSA, which attributed that high rate to increases in total family income and the disparate benefits that family gets from government subsidies of basic daily needs including food, health, education, housing, electric power and water.

By contrast the average monthly expenditure of an expat family in Kuwait was about KD731 and its savings were KD99.

Based on the information, the total expenditure of Kuwaiti and expat families in 2008 came to KD4.5 billion.

For Kuwaiti families, the most money spent in a month was on food and tobacco products (18.5 percent), followed by jewellery and electronic goods (13.1 percent), furniture (14.5 percent), clothing (11 percent), entertainment (9.1 percent), and transportation (8.8 percent).

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