China’s “Engel’s coefficient” reached 30.1% in 2016, a decrease of 2.1% from 2012, which is considered close to the well-off line of 20% to 30% set by the United Nations, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Yicai.com reported.
Engel’s law is an indicator measuring the share of income spent on food and reflects a nation’s standard of living. The lower the number, the higher the living standard.
An improvement in living standards leads to an upgrade in consumption, boosting emerging “happiness industries” such as tourism, culture, sports, health and aging care, as well as education.
For example, during the eight-day National Day holiday at the beginning of this month, 705 million tourists traveled around the country, spending 583.6 billion yuan in just a week.
Chinese tend to spend more on the service sector, which has contributed 51.6% to the nation’s economy growth in 2016. Meanwhile, the total contribution of consumption to the national economy has reached 64.6%.
Interesting.