THE mobile phone is eating a larger slice of the household
budget than petrol this year, as the aftershocks of the global financial crisis force Australians to shift some of their consumption back to home base.
Spending on food, electricity, gas and water have increased as part of the changing patterns of consumption.
A study by The Australian using unpublished official data shows spending on motoring fuel was at historic lows at just 2.4 per cent of household expenditure in the June quarter national accounts, while the share that went to telecommunications was 0.1 points higher at 2.5 per cent.
It is the second occasion this decade the mobile phone has cost more consumer dollars than petrol, following a similar run between 2001 and 2004.
This is part of a wider pattern in which Australians are spending more time and money in the kitchen and living room.
A snapshot of the typical household budget in the June quarter last year, before the global financial crisis hit, showed energy bills accounted for 20.5 per cent of spending, followed by transport on 12 per cent and food on 10.8 per cent.
A year on, the share of spending that went to electricity, gas and water was 0.7 points higher at 21.2 per cent, while food was up 0.3 points to 11.1 per cent. This filled the vacuum left by the reduction in spending on transport, which lost 1.3 points to 10.7 per cent.
Transport comprises the purchase and operation of vehicles. All items were significantly down on a year ago.
Car buying dropped from 3.7 per cent to 3.2 per cent of total spending, while motoring fuel slipped from 3.1 per cent to 2.4 per cent.
Telecommunication services, by contrast, held their ground at 2.5 per cent.
The swings and roundabouts suggest the typical family put off the purchase of a new vehicle in 2008-09, drove their existing car less often and used the savings indoors on home-cooked meals and long nights in front of the flatscreen television.
The lower spending on petrol comprises both a short-term shock and a longer-term trend.
Petrol's share of the household budget is now almost half what it was a generation ago, when it claimed 4.4 per cent of total spending in the June quarter of 1984. At that time, telecommunication services were a mere hobby at 1.3 per cent.
The price of petrol is considered the most politically sensitive product after property and both sides of politics have been unwilling to increase taxes on motorists.
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David