Restaurant spending increases
5/1/2005 7:35
Shanghai Daily news
Most local residents saw their
spending on food, education, books and magazines jump significantly last year
compared with 2003, a recent survey suggests.
Horizon research Group
(Shanghai) surveyed 404 local residents, aged 39 on average, over the telephone
about changes to their consumption habits over the past year.
Most people
said that their living and consumption situation remained almost the same over
the past two years, while about a quarter of the respondents said their living
standard has improved slightly.
The respondents had an average monthly income
of 2,343 yuan (US$282) last year, about the same as in 2003, the survey
said.
More than 42 percent of people surveyed said that they spent more on
dining out at restaurants last year, as spending on food grew faster last year
than on any other expense.
The survey indicated that about 16 percent of
respondents even said their food expenses surged by 30 percent or more last year
compared with 2003.
"As eating is the most basic daily consumption item for
human beings, it's natural for people in modern cities to spend more in dining
out, especially after the SARS epidemic in 2003," said Michael Shen, a sales
manager at a local US-invested IT company.
Deng xin, fieldwork supervisor at
Horizon Research, said relatively smaller price increases at local restaurants
compared with other consumption items also contributed to the eating
expenditure's top place last year.
Similar surveys in previous years
indicated that eating followed entertainment and book purchases to rank third in
the expenditure increase list, Deng added.
Meanwhile, nearly 31 percent of
people surveyed voted children's study fees and other extracurricular course
tuition as their largest expenditure increase.
Spending on reading materials
also followed as 30 percent of respondents said that they spent more buying
books and magazines, the survey suggested.
But locals' spending on park or
museum tickets saw the largest decrease in the past year, followed by spending
on clothing and other entertainment items.
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