STATISTICAL SURVEY ON HOUSEHOLD CONSUMP-TION IN THE CONTEXT OF ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DECLINE

The article presents an in-depth analysis of household consumption expenditure in Lithuania in 2005−2008 through the use of not only traditional indicators and methods but also those proposed by the authors of the article. The results of the calcula­tions might be useful in the analysis of the efficiency of the poverty and social inequality reduction policy. The purpose of the article is to reflect the socioeco­nomic stratification of society and its changes across the country, in urban and rural areas. In the survey, different – identification, secondary grouping, sum­mary indicators, and index – methods were used. Tra­ditional and elementary statistical indicators – an arithmetic mean, a mode, and a median – were used for the assessment of the asymmetry of the distribu­tion of expenditure. In summarising structural differ­ences in consumption expenditure, it is proposed to use the Gateva integral coefficient of structural differ­ences; movement in this coefficient helps to reveal shifts in consumption patterns in household groups. The analysis carried out confirmed the assump­tion that the outbreak of the economic crisis in 2008 had a negative impact on the level and structure of household consumption expenditure, which was stronger in case of urban than rural households.