Household spending on take-aways wasn’t enough to make up the difference in what diners previously spent on eating out in Luxembourg Shutterstock

Household spending on take-aways wasn’t enough to make up the difference in what diners previously spent on eating out in Luxembourg Shutterstock

Households in Luxembourg spent 25% more on takeaways during the first year of the pandemic, but the splurge was not enough to make up the difference of what they had previously spent on restaurants.

Figures published by showing consumption changes as a result of the pandemic revealed that households spent on average €645 in 2020 on takeaways, up from €518 the year before.

No surprise here since the Luxembourg government closed restaurants over two periods in a bid to curb the spread of Sars-CoV-2. And with vast swathes of the population working from home during the year, when restaurants did open they struggled to get footfall to match previous years. 

The boost in take-away spending fell short of making up for the loss of revenue normally generated by on-site diners. In 2019, households spent on average €2,399 on restaurants, a bill that fell 40% from 2019-2020 to €1,445. It was even tougher for bars and cafés, where households spent on average 62% less, from €541 to €204. Canteens suffered a 40% decline in household spending, from €278 to €171 in 2020, no doubt linked to the closures of schools and alternate in-person classes.

Overall, spending in restaurants, cafés, canteens and on takeaways declined 34%, from €3,737 in 2020 to €2,465 in 2019.

The report concluded that 2020 was a “black year” for the food and drinks sector.

Groceries spend increase

Average spending on groceries, meanwhile jumped 23% to reach €7,178. The same year, average household spending on kitchen appliances rose over 58% to reach €168 per household.

Broken down into detail, the amount spent on groceries in supermarkets and specialist stores indicates that shoppers were buying more fresh food. On average, they spent €1,420 on fruit and vegetables last year compared to €1,166 in 2019. The same goes for meat, with an average expenditure of €1,415 compared to €1,175 a year earlier. The trend was the same for fish, milk, cheese and eggs.