Czechs spend increasing sums on eating out
Czechs spend more money on eating out than people in most neighbour states, the news site Novinky.cz wrote on Wednesday, citing a report by the Statistical Office of the European Communities, Eurostat.
“Eating out is an increasingly important part of the Czech economy,” says Lukáš Kovanda, an analyst at Czech Fund, and adds that the trend is likely to continue. He also points out that in 2008, Czechs’ spending on eating out only amounted to 5.7 percent of their total expenditures.
According to the Eurostat report, EU households spent over 600 billion euros in restaurants, cafés, canteens, and the like in 2018, which is around 3.8 percent of the European Union’s GDP. On average, the share of EU household expenditures on catering services represents seven percent of their total consumption expenditures.
The share of household expenditures devoted to catering services was the largest in Ireland with 14.4 percent, followed by Spain with 13 percent and Malta with 12.6 percent. In contrast, the lowest share was recorded in Romania (1.9 percent), followed by Poland (3 percent) and Lithuania (3.4 percent).
Between 2008 and 2018, the share of total household expenditures on catering services increased in most EU Member States where 2018 data is available.
According to a recent survey carried out by the firm Edenred, seven out of ten Czechs visit canteens or a nearby restaurant on every workday, rather than eating a sandwich at their desk.
The number of Czechs who leave their office at lunch increased by 14 percent over the past ten years.
The average sum Czechs spent on lunch in 2019 was over CZK 120, which was six percent more than in the previous year.
