Wealthy Households in Germany Have Largest Material Footprint

The greater the household budget, the larger the material footprint and thus the consumption of resources in Germany. Thereby, the “material footprint”, an indicator for the consumption of resources, refers to the amount of raw materials required to produce all the goods consumed in one household. Depending on the level of prosperity, German households tend to spend their income on different goods. While both poor and wealthy households spend large shares of their respective budgets on food, housing, energy and communication, the wealthiest 25 per cent spend a particularly large share on transport. These are the findings of a study conducted by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim.

In calculating the material footprint, it is not just the amount of domestic raw materials – like biomass, minerals or fossil fuels – that are included, but also the amount of raw materials used in overseas production and to transport the goods that are then consumed domestically. If wealthy nations such as Germany reduced their consumption of material-intensive goods, their material footprint would shrink. Conversely, the consumption of material-intensive goods leads to a larger material footprint.

The ZEW study shows that in 2008 the average material footprint of a German household amounted to 26.99 tonnes. While the material footprint for 95.57 per cent of all households was under 60 tonnes, in 0.87 per cent of households this exceeded 100 tonnes. Generally speaking, families with children tend to have a below-average material footprint, while single households have an above-average footprint. The greater the household budget, the larger the material footprint, with the highest-earning 25 per cent of households producing an average footprint of 49.29 tonnes, which is more than three times larger than that of the lowest-earning 25 per cent of households (16.15 tonnes).

High food prices have the most substantial effect on the material footprint

For the purpose of the study, data from the EVS (Sample survey of income and expenditure) sample was assessed, which details consumer spending for various purposes in German households. Based on their spending as well as the number and age of household members, the households are divided into different groups. The study distinguishes between ten different types of spending: food, clothing, housing, energy, household appliances, transport, communication, health and education, recreation, and other.

The study also investigated how the consumer spending of German households responds to price and budgetary changes. An increase in the price of food has the most substantial effect on the material footprint, with a one per cent increase leading households’ material footprint to shrink by 3.27 million tonnes. Price increases in transport, housing, and health and education each cause the material footprint to decrease by over two million tonnes. If the price of clothing or communication increases, this leads to a reduction in the material footprint of just under a million tonnes.

For further information please contact:

Miguel Angel Tovar Reaños, PhD, Phone +49 (0)621/1235-201, E-mail: miguelangel.tovarreanos@zew.de