- Darwin had the highest average household expenditure ($1,080 a week).
- Darwin also had the highest level of gross household income ($1,415 a week).
- Between 1998-99 and 2003-04, total expenditure on goods and services in Darwin increased by 19%, a figure that was lower than the increase for Australia as a whole (26%) and the lowest increase of any capital city.
- Comparing each category of goods and services expenditure, Darwin had the highest expenditures on:
- current housing costs ($184 a week);
- alcoholic beverages ($39 a week), with higher weekly expenditure on beer ($16) than for any other capital city;
- tobacco products ($14 a week, although down from the 1998–99 figure of $17 a week);
- household services and operation ($66 a week);
- recreation ($188 a week) with higher weekly expenditure on televisions ($8 a week) than any other capital city.
- Darwin did not record the lowest expenditure in any broad expenditure category.
- Significant increases in expenditure over the five years from 1998-99 were on pay TV (up 593%), mobile telephone charges (up 102%) and health and accident insurance (up 56%).
Differences in demographic characteristics of households help to explain Darwin's relatively high levels of expenditure. These factors include:
- The proportion of Darwin households with wages and salaries income as the principal source of income was the highest (73%).
- The average number of persons in Darwin households aged under 65 was relatively high (2.5).
- The proportion of households that owned their own home with a mortgage was relatively high (43%).
 | NSW | Vic. | Qld | SA | WA | Tas. | NT | ACT | Aust. |
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| Average weekly expenditure ($) | 938 | 888 | 820 | 814 | 871 | 753 | 1,038 | 1,052 | 883 |
| Mean gross household income per week ($) | 1,212 | 1,134 | 1,036 | 1,033 | 1,098 | 897 | 1,401 | 1,399 | 1,128 |
Extract from Tables 25 and 26 of Household Expenditure Survey, Australia: Summary of Results, 2003-04 (cat. no. 6530.0).
This page last updated 3 July 2008
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