Ugandans’ spending habits
Jul 05, 2008
UGANDANS spend more on food, drinks and tobacco, taking more than 45% of individual household expenditures. This is followed by rent, fuel and energy that take up 16% of the expenditure.
By Barbara Among,/b>
UGANDANS spend more on food, drinks and tobacco, taking more than 45% of individual household expenditures. This is followed by rent, fuel and energy that take up 16% of the expenditure.
Education comes third at 10%, transport and communication and health in the fifth with a 7% share of the household expenditure.
The Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) said in a June report that Ugandans spent 5% on household and personal goods and 4% on clothing and footwear. Non- consumption expenditure takes only 4 % of people’s expenditure.
However, the report added, the amount of money being spent by an individual Ugandan on these items is expected to increase as prices of consumables continue to sky-rocket. The continuous rise in oil price, which stood at $145 a barrel on Thursday, has pushed prices of other products up.
The report indicated that household expenditure on food, drinks and tobacco has increased steadily over the years.
In 2003, the rural Uganda spent 50% of its household income on drinks and tobacco, while the urban dwellers spent 33%.
This increased to 35% for urban areas and constant for rural areas in 2007. While the urban areas are steadily increasing their share of expenditure on education, the rural population is spending more on health.
In total, private expenditure on education increased from sh51.9b in 2003 to sh81.7b in the last three years, whereas private expenditures of health increased from sh29.3b to sh53.8b during the same period.
The statistics body disclosed that Uganda’s average household expenditure rose from sh136,468 per month to sh152,068, representing a 11.4% increase within a period of three years.
Meanwhile, real consumption expenditure, (excluding inflation), on average increased from sh26,663 to sh29,280 per month.
The central region, which excludes Kampala city, had the highest real per capita expenditure increase of sh37,281, up from sh32,455, a 15% increment, while the western region registered a 15% increase.
Surprisingly, a 10% decrease was registered in Kampala from sh88,152 to 78,798 per month per capita.
While rural areas spending increased by 14.4%, urban centres registered a tiny 4.2% increase in their expenditures.
The annual headline inflation rate, which excludes food prices, stood at 12.4% in June. The rise in the inflation rate was mainly attributed to higher price levels for food, beverages, tobacco, fuel, household and personal goods and transport and communication in June compared to the same period last year.
Economist predict that the prices of food could come down in August, as the increases in prices of food items were due to seasonal factors and high demand from neighbouring countries.
However, UBOS observed a further increase during the month of June 2008, in the prices of petrol, diesel, paraffin, firewood and local brew (malwa).
A mini-survey by Saturday Vision found that many Ugandans have not changed their lifestyle despite the price increases of such commodities but only cut on the quantity and quality of goods and services they consume.
“I used to spend sh1,500 per day on cigarettes. I am actually thinking of quitting. I tried quitting last month but backtracked,†said Geria Ayivu, a salary earner, who works for one of the upmarket companies in town.
Ayivu, who earns a monthly salary of sh1.6m, said due to increased cost of living, he has had to give up on beer and resort to taking spirits such as Bond7, which is much cheaper.
However, he is having this only three times a week. Most Ugandans we spoke to said they are trying to get the cheaper alternative such as resorting to taking local beverages and reducing on the number of social functions they attend.
For most ardent smokers and beer lovers, they revealed that they have had to cut on the variety and amount of food they buy at home to meet the cost of their daily lifestyle.
Flugence Manirho (a bodaboda cyclist) is one of such. He disclosed that to maintain his weekly rounds to night clubs and drinks with friends, he has had to sacrifice buying milk and meat for his family.
“I used to spend a sh100,000 a week on household consumption but it’s now sh150,000 or more. “The alternative is to cut on the variety of food we eat and generally increase on dry ratio and reduce on meat,†said an employee at Parliament, who declined to be named.
“What is compounding all these is that, our salary remains the same. Employers are paying a deaf ear to the increased cost of living,†said Joseph Saali, a Policeman.
Uganda hit the world record in 2003, when the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced it as the world’s highest per-capita consumer of alcohol.
At 17.6 litres per person per year, it means the average Ugandan consumes twice as much alcohol as the average resident of any of Uganda’s neighbouring countries.
Besides beer, there are traditional alcoholic beverages like tonto, mostly consumed in central and western Uganda, ajono, widely consumed in the east and northern Uganda and omuramba consumed by people from Kigezi in south-western Uganda.
Others are kweete and kidongo. The above beverages can be distilled to yield a more concentrated and relatively pure beverage called waragi.
Statistical experts, however, argue that this number probably doesn’t tell the whole story since Uganda also has one of the highest estimated levels of unrecorded consumption; smuggled, imported, or home-brewed alcohol-in the world.
Though it has not hit a world record for smoking, recent reports by the WHO indicate that at least 52% of male and 17% female adults have ever smoked and the vice is on the increase amongst youth aged between 14 and 18 years.
UGANDANS spend more on food, drinks and tobacco, taking more than 45% of individual household expenditures. This is followed by rent, fuel and energy that take up 16% of the expenditure.
Education comes third at 10%, transport and communication and health in the fifth with a 7% share of the household expenditure.
The Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) said in a June report that Ugandans spent 5% on household and personal goods and 4% on clothing and footwear. Non- consumption expenditure takes only 4 % of people’s expenditure.
However, the report added, the amount of money being spent by an individual Ugandan on these items is expected to increase as prices of consumables continue to sky-rocket. The continuous rise in oil price, which stood at $145 a barrel on Thursday, has pushed prices of other products up.
The report indicated that household expenditure on food, drinks and tobacco has increased steadily over the years.
In 2003, the rural Uganda spent 50% of its household income on drinks and tobacco, while the urban dwellers spent 33%.
This increased to 35% for urban areas and constant for rural areas in 2007. While the urban areas are steadily increasing their share of expenditure on education, the rural population is spending more on health.
In total, private expenditure on education increased from sh51.9b in 2003 to sh81.7b in the last three years, whereas private expenditures of health increased from sh29.3b to sh53.8b during the same period.
The statistics body disclosed that Uganda’s average household expenditure rose from sh136,468 per month to sh152,068, representing a 11.4% increase within a period of three years.
Meanwhile, real consumption expenditure, (excluding inflation), on average increased from sh26,663 to sh29,280 per month.
The central region, which excludes Kampala city, had the highest real per capita expenditure increase of sh37,281, up from sh32,455, a 15% increment, while the western region registered a 15% increase.
Surprisingly, a 10% decrease was registered in Kampala from sh88,152 to 78,798 per month per capita.
While rural areas spending increased by 14.4%, urban centres registered a tiny 4.2% increase in their expenditures.
The annual headline inflation rate, which excludes food prices, stood at 12.4% in June. The rise in the inflation rate was mainly attributed to higher price levels for food, beverages, tobacco, fuel, household and personal goods and transport and communication in June compared to the same period last year.
Economist predict that the prices of food could come down in August, as the increases in prices of food items were due to seasonal factors and high demand from neighbouring countries.
However, UBOS observed a further increase during the month of June 2008, in the prices of petrol, diesel, paraffin, firewood and local brew (malwa).
A mini-survey by Saturday Vision found that many Ugandans have not changed their lifestyle despite the price increases of such commodities but only cut on the quantity and quality of goods and services they consume.
“I used to spend sh1,500 per day on cigarettes. I am actually thinking of quitting. I tried quitting last month but backtracked,†said Geria Ayivu, a salary earner, who works for one of the upmarket companies in town.
Ayivu, who earns a monthly salary of sh1.6m, said due to increased cost of living, he has had to give up on beer and resort to taking spirits such as Bond7, which is much cheaper.
However, he is having this only three times a week. Most Ugandans we spoke to said they are trying to get the cheaper alternative such as resorting to taking local beverages and reducing on the number of social functions they attend.
For most ardent smokers and beer lovers, they revealed that they have had to cut on the variety and amount of food they buy at home to meet the cost of their daily lifestyle.
Flugence Manirho (a bodaboda cyclist) is one of such. He disclosed that to maintain his weekly rounds to night clubs and drinks with friends, he has had to sacrifice buying milk and meat for his family.
“I used to spend a sh100,000 a week on household consumption but it’s now sh150,000 or more. “The alternative is to cut on the variety of food we eat and generally increase on dry ratio and reduce on meat,†said an employee at Parliament, who declined to be named.
“What is compounding all these is that, our salary remains the same. Employers are paying a deaf ear to the increased cost of living,†said Joseph Saali, a Policeman.
Uganda hit the world record in 2003, when the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced it as the world’s highest per-capita consumer of alcohol.
At 17.6 litres per person per year, it means the average Ugandan consumes twice as much alcohol as the average resident of any of Uganda’s neighbouring countries.
Besides beer, there are traditional alcoholic beverages like tonto, mostly consumed in central and western Uganda, ajono, widely consumed in the east and northern Uganda and omuramba consumed by people from Kigezi in south-western Uganda.
Others are kweete and kidongo. The above beverages can be distilled to yield a more concentrated and relatively pure beverage called waragi.
Statistical experts, however, argue that this number probably doesn’t tell the whole story since Uganda also has one of the highest estimated levels of unrecorded consumption; smuggled, imported, or home-brewed alcohol-in the world.
Though it has not hit a world record for smoking, recent reports by the WHO indicate that at least 52% of male and 17% female adults have ever smoked and the vice is on the increase amongst youth aged between 14 and 18 years.