Iranian Household Income, Expense Balanced Out Last Year

EghtesadOnline: Income and living expenses of Iranian households almost evened out in the last Iranian year (March 2015-16), according to the latest report of the Central Bank of Iran.

News ID: ۷۳۷۱۴۷

25 September 2016

The report, which is based on a survey carried out on 12,700 households, indicates that the average annual gross income of urban households increased by more than 12% from 313,930,000 rials ($8,803 at market exchange rates) two years ago to 352,590,000 rials ($9,887) last year.

The average annual gross expense of each household increased from 328,760,000 ($9,219) two years ago to 352,650,000 ($9,889) last year, registering a 7% rise.

The CBI report on last Iranian fiscal year’s inflation shows the goods and services Consumer Price Index for urban areas in the 12 months ending March 19, which marks the end of the last Iranian year, increased 11.9% compared with last year’s corresponding period.

At the top of the list of household expenses were those pertaining to lodging, water, electricity and gas, which together constitute 35% of all expenses. This is followed by food and transportation that make up 23.6% and 10.2% of the expenses respectively.

Last year, 26.4% of households had no employed members, 55.7% had one, 14.7% had two and 3.2% boasted three or more employed members, the report noted.

Each household had an average of 3.38 members which shows a decline compared to the previous year. A majority of households, over 29% of them, had four members while those with 9 and 10 or more members, which comprised 0.1% of the households, were placed at the bottom of the list.

Last year, 46.9% of the households possessed a car, 17.4% had a motorcycle and 13.4% a bicycle. Also, 20.8% had a radio and tape recorder, 99.3% owned a TV set, 46% had a VHS or CD/DVD player, 46.6% had a computer, 11.7% owned a camcorder and 95.3% used a mobile phone, reports Financial Tribune.

In terms of lodging, 99.6% of the households benefited from running water, 100% had electricity, 93.8% had gas, 46.5% had access to sewage systems and 78.6% and 37.9% had access to telephone and Internet respectively.

Based on the CBI report, 11.7% of the Iranian population were illiterate, 2.1% knew how to read and write, 20.2% had elementary education, 42.9% had secondary or high-school education and 23.1% had academic education last year.