Ministry Examines Housing Expenses in Fiscal 2019-20

Average housing expenses for urban and rural households increased by 29.5% and 25.3% respectively in the year ending March 2020 compared with the previous year.  

The share of average annual expenses related to rents and other housing costs in the average annual expenses of households increased by 31.3% for urban households and 32.7% for rural households in the last fiscal year. 

Average rent expenses increased by 21.8% for urban households and by 17.3% for rural households in the year ending March 2020 compared with the year before.

In general, from the year ending March 2012 to the year ending March 2020, average housing expenses for urban households have been larger than rural households’ expenses, such that in the year ending March 2020 average housing expenses of urban households were 3.7-times bigger than those of rural households. 

In the year ending March 2020, urban and rural households spent 36.4% and 18% of their total spending on housing. Among Iranian provinces, the highest share in urban and rural areas was recorded for Tehran with 49.9% and 33.7%, respectively. The smallest share was recorded for South Khorasan’s urban and rural areas with 21.2% and 12.1%, respectively.

Housing expenses are classified under non-food expenses: In the year ending March 2020, 46.8% of non-food expenses of an urban household and 29.7% of non-food expenses of a rural household were spent on housing. 

In the same year, housing expenses accounted for the lion’s share of urban households’ overall expenses whereas food and tobacco accounted for the lion’s share of a rural household’s overall expenses. 

In the year ending March 2020, 24.1% of urban households and 4.5% of rural households lived in rented homes. The highest and lowest rates of living in urban rented homes were recorded for Kermanshah with 30.9% and East Azarbaijan with 13.2%, respectively. The highest and lowest rates of living in rented homes in rural areas were registered for Tehran with 25.4% and Sistan-Baluchestan 0.8%, respectively. 

During the year under review, 3.8% of total expenses of an urban household and 0.6% of the total expenses of a rural household were spent on paying rents. 

Among Iranian provinces, the highest and lowest share in urban areas were recorded respectively for Sistan-Baluchestan with 5.4%, and Zanjan and Khuzestan with 2.5%. The highest and lowest share in rural areas were recorded respectively for Tehran with 2.8% and Sistan-Baluchestan, Zanjan and Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari provinces with 0.1%.

As mentioned above, the share of housing expenses in households’ total annual expenses in urban areas stood at 36.4%, which share was the highest for families in the ninth and 10th deciles (those with the highest income) with 37.7% and 44.1%, respectively. 

The share was the lowest for the second income decile with 31.7%. Housing expenses of an urban household falling in the 10th decile was nine times as much as those of an urban household falling in the first income decile in the year ending March 2020. 

During the year under review, the share of housing expenses in households’ total annual expenses in rural areas stood at 17.7%, which share was the highest for rural families in the first decile with 25.1% and lowest for households in the 10th decile with 14.2%.

The housing expenses of a rural household falling in the 10th decile was four times as much as those of a rural household falling in the first income decile.

According to the Statistical Center of Iran, the average goods and services Consumer Price Index in the 12-month period ending March 19, which marks the final day of the fiscal 2019-20 increased by 34.8% compared with the corresponding period of the year before, latest data released by the Statistical Center of Iran show. 

Monthly Consumer Inflation

The consumer inflation for the month under review (Feb. 20-March 19, 2020) registered a year-on-year increase of 22% compared with the similar month of the previous year.

The overall CPI (using the Iranian year to March 2017 as the base year) stood at 200.5, indicating a 1.5% rise compared with the month before. 

CPI registered a year-on-year increase of 22.2% for urban areas and 21.1% for rural areas in the month under review compared with the similar month of the preceding year. 

The overall CPI reached 199.5 for urban households and 206.2 for rural households, indicating a month-on-month increase of 1.4% and 1.8% for urban and rural areas, respectively.

SCI put average annual inflation for urban and rural areas for the month under review at 34.4% and 37.3% respectively. 

The highest monthly growth in the index among 12 groups of the basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households in the Iranian month ending March 19 was recorded for “clothing and shoes” with 3.1%, while the slowest inflation growth was posted for “education” group with 0.1% month-on-month. 

Notably, the CPI of “housing, water, electricity, natural gas and other fuels” stood at 166.7 in the month under review, indicating a 0.4% increase compared with the month before. 

The group’s CPI index, which has the biggest impact on total inflation rate with a coefficient of 35.5%, registered a year-on-year increase of 22%. 

The average 12-month CPI of housing, water, electricity, natural gas and other fuels group increased by 23.7% compared with the preceding year’s corresponding period.