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.