In 2020, the average annual cost of Iran’s urban household and a rural household was 60 and 24 million tomans, respectively. But the remarkable thing is that household expenses were more than their income.
The survey of household expenditure and income with a 50-year history is one of the most important statistical projects of the Statistical Center of Iran. The overall objective of this project is to estimate the average costs and income of an urban household and a rural household in the country and provinces. In 2020, the number of households surveyed in this project was 19,306 households in urban areas and 18,251 sample households in rural areas of the country.
A look at the most important results of the project in 2020 in urban and rural areas shows that:
– The average annual net expenditure of an urban household was 621,392 Rials, an increase of 31% compared to the same figure a year earlier. The total annual cost of urban households was 161,094 Rials with a share of 26% related to food and tobacco costs and 460,298 Rials with a share of 74% related to non-edible costs. Among food and tobacco costs, the highest share was related to the cost of flour, string, cereals, bread and its products and meat each with a share of 21% and among non-edible costs, the highest share with 50% was related to the cost of housing, fuel, and lighting.
– The average annual income of an urban household was 764,746 Rials, an increase of 38% from the previous year. Accordingly, in 2020, the average annual income growth of urban households is higher than the average annual total expenditure growth. Sources of income for urban households show that 31.4 percent of income came from wage-earning jobs, 15.7 percent of agricultural and nonfarm freelance jobs, and 52.9 percent of miscellaneous household incomes.
– Comparing the percentage of urban households using major living appliances in 2019 compared to 2020 shows that households using refrigerators from 70.2 to 71.9, vacuum cleaners from 91.7 to 91.9, the washing machine changed from 87.1 to 87.3, the stove changed from 99.1 to 98.9, and microwaves and halogen ovens from 12.3 to 12.4 percent. Also, the percentage of urban households using private cars and dishwashers was unchanged with 53.1% and 7.6% respectively compared to the previous year.
– In 2020, the main type of fuel consumed by 94.5% of urban households for heat was natural gas (public network).
– The average annual net expenditure of a rural household was 340,679 Rials, an increase of 30.5% from the previous year. The total annual cost of rural households was 136,442 Rials with a share of 40% related to food and tobacco costs and 204,237 Rials with a share of 60% related to non-edible costs. Among food and tobacco costs, the highest share was related to the cost of flour, string, cereals, bread, and its products with 25.0% and among non-edible costs, the largest share with 32.0% was related to housing, fuel, and lighting.
– The average annual income of a rural household was 420,470 Rials, an increase of 41.6% from the previous year. Sources of income for rural households show that 32.7% of wage and salary jobs, 29.7% of agricultural and non-agricultural freelance jobs, and 37.5% of miscellaneous household incomes have been provided.
– Comparing the percentage of rural households using major living appliances in 2019 compared to 2020 shows that households using personal cars from 32.7 to 34.1, refrigerator-freezers from 50.4 to 52.7, stoves from 98.4 to 98.8, the vacuum cleaner has changed from 65.9 to 67.5, washing machines from 56.5 to 58.1, a dishwasher from 0.5 to 0.4 and microwave and halogen ovens from 2.3 to 1.6 percent.
– In 2020, the main type of fuel consumed was 75.2% of rural households for heat, natural gas (public network), and 13.3% kerosene.
Average household expenditures and income by province
The average annual cost of an urban household shows that Tehran province with 957,016 Rials had the highest and North Khorasan province with 351,943 Rials had the lowest cost in 2020.
Tehran province with 1,098,118 Rials had the highest and Sistan and Baluchestan province with 478,831 Rials had the lowest average annual income of an urban household in 2020.
The average annual cost of a rural household shows that Alborz province with 566,427 Rials had the highest and Sistan and Baluchestan province with 180,395 Rials had the lowest cost in 2020.
Also, Alborz province with 676,897 Rials and Sistan and Baluchestan province with 181,091 Rials, the lowest average annual income of a rural household in 2020.
