B.C. households are among the biggest spenders in Canada, but their spending increases were among the lowest in the country last year, according to Statistics Canada data released Friday.
The average B.C. household spent $73,120 last year, up 0.7% from $72,620 in 2007. That put B.C. behind Ontario's average household spending of $77,310 and Alberta's $86,910, which was the highest in the country.
But B.C. households were among those in other provinces that had the lowest spending increases: Manitoba (0.3%), New Brunswick (0.4%), Nova Scotia (0.6%), Ontario (0.9%) and Alberta (1.2%). All their spending increases were below last year's inflation rate of 2.3%.
Nationally, personal taxes accounted for the largest portion of a household's spending (20.5%), followed by shelter (19.9%), transportation (13.6%) and food (10.4%).
Driven by the rise in rental accommodation, shelter costs accounted for the biggest portion of household spending in B.C. (20.8%) and Ontario (21.2%). Nationally, shelter costs rose 4%.