The Household budget survey (HBS) provides information about consumption expenditure and the living standard of private households in Austria. It is carried out every five years. In addition to consumption expenditure, data is also collected on relevant characteristics of the persons living in the household (e.g. age, occupation), the dwelling (e.g. size, tenure status) and the household itself. The current HBS was implemented as a random sample survey and was conducted between the end of May 2019 and mid-June 2020 among private households.
The results of the survey provide information on the spending behaviour of households in Austria and about the life situation of different social groups. In addition, the data collected on expenditure totals and their distribution between individual expenditure groups provides an important basis for reweighting the basket of goods used in Consumer price indices (CPI/HICP) and is also an analytic tool for validating the results of private consumption of National accounts.