DESTATIS - Federal Statistical Office Press Costs of mobility: households spend an average of 233 euros per month on a car, 33 euros on buses, trains and the like.

Press Release No. N 045 of July 7, 2021

WIESBADEN - The question of how mobility can be made sustainable and affordable in the future is currently the starting point for many discussions. As reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), in 2018 households spent an average of 233 euros per month on the maintenance and use of cars and other motor vehicles. On average, 33 euros were spent on bus, train and taxi services. The amount of expenditure for the various forms of mobility depends heavily on the monthly household income. Expenditures for the use of cars – including fuel, spare parts, maintenance, parking or parking space rentals as well as expenses for motor vehicle tax and insurance – rise continuously with higher household income. Households in the highest income bracket of EUR 4,000 a month and more spent an average of EUR 388 per month. That was almost ten times what households in the lowest income bracket (less than 1,100 euros a month) spent – on average only 40 euros.

Expenditure on buses, trains and the like increases less rapidly as income increases

When it comes to spending on bus, train and taxi services, the difference between households in the lowest and those in the highest income bracket is much smaller: households with a monthly income of less than 1100 euros spent 22 euros a month on bus, train and taxi services in 2018 on. Households in the highest income bracket spent twice as much on this, at EUR 44 per month. This means that households in the lowest income bracket spend on average almost twice as much money per month on the maintenance and use of a car as on the use of buses, trains and taxis. Households in the highest income bracket, on the other hand, spend around nine times as much on car use as they do on buses, trains and taxis.

Expenditure of private households in 2018 by net household income class
	Total households	Of which by monthly net household income from ... to under … euros
below 1 100	1 100 - 1 700	1 700 - 2 600	2,600 - 4,000	4,000 and more
per household and month in euros
Car maintenance and use	233	40	91	154	237	388
Bus, train & Taxi	33	22	26	28	30	44< /td>

Fuel, repairs and inspection are the price drivers for drivers

Similar to the household expenditure structure, the prices for the various forms of mobility also differ. Motorized individual transport by car is still the means of transport of choice for many people, such as commuters. The prices for fuel are particularly important for their mobility costs: While the entire consumer price index in May 2021 was 2.5% higher than in the previous year, petrol, diesel and the like were 27.5% more expensive in May 2021 than in May 2020.

Various influences are responsible for this, above all the comparison with the corona-related low prices for fuel since April 2020 (base effect) and the CO₂ tax since January 2021. Prices also rose in a longer-term comparison for fuels were above average: in May 2021 they were almost 12% above the level of 2015 - the consumer price index as a whole has increased by 8.7% in this period.

In addition to fuel, the prices of other goods have an impact on the mobility costs of drivers. In May 2021, the prices for motor vehicle tax (+0.9%), for motor vehicle insurance (+0.7%) and for spare parts and car accessories (+0.4%) rose below average compared to the same month of the previous year. . The prices for repairs and inspections, on the other hand, were 4.3% higher than in May 2020. Looking back over a longer period of time since 2015, it also becomes clear that the prices for car maintenance have developed differently: in May 2021, spare parts and accessories were only 1.3% more expensive than in 2015, vehicle tax cost 1.8% more, insurance costs increased by 2.1%. Repairs and inspections, on the other hand, became significantly more expensive: the prices for these were 20.0% higher in May 2021 than in 2015.

DESTATIS - Federal Statistical Office Press Costs of mobility : Households spend an average of 233 euros a month on a car, 33 euros on buses, trains and the like.

E-mobility in the form of e-bikes, e-scooters and, above all, electric cars, which are heavily subsidized by the state, should also play a major role in the future of mobility. Although the price of fuel for electric vehicles remained roughly stable from May 2020 to May 2021 (-0.1%), electricity has become more expensive since 2015 to a similar extent as petrol, diesel and Co (+11.1%). These rates of change reflect the price development of household electricity from the point of view of private households.

Public transport: consumer-friendly price development for long-distance train tickets

The prices for trains and the like were also affected by the current developments. In May 2021, for example, the prices for long-distance train journeys were 5.5% lower than in the same month of the previous year and 1.7% higher for local transport. One reason for this is the lower demand for long-distance train tickets during the corona pandemic. This means that cheap saver fare tickets are still available relatively shortly before the day of travel. Combined transport services such as monthly tickets were 1.3% more expensive, and transport with taxis was 1.7% more expensive.

However, the current development does not match the results of the long-term analysis: In local transport, prices have risen by 16.0% since 2015 - and thus almost twice as much as consumer prices overall (+8.7%). Combined transport services such as monthly tickets (+11.1%) rose above average from 2015 to May 2021, as did taxi rides (+13.1%). Only long-distance train tickets have seen prices fall since 2015, also due to the reduction in VAT from 19% to 7% at the beginning of 2020; they were 13.6% cheaper in May 2021 than in 2015.

Methodological note: The results presented on household expenditure for the use of cars and other motor vehicles, buses, trains and taxis come from the survey of income and consumption (EVS) that takes place every five years. Expenditure on buying or leasing cars is not included in the results reported here. The EVS is a voluntary household survey in which around 60,000 private households in Germany provide information on their expenditure and income, their living conditions and their equipment with consumer goods. Results for households with a regular monthly net income of 18,000 euros or more are not taken into account in the EVS, since too few of them take part in the survey.

Further information: Price developments for frequently purchased goods from 2015, including the price development for various types of fuel and for car repairs, can be found in the price monitor under the heading "Car, Transport".

Our podcast "StatGestalk" on the subject of inflation also provides you with background information and analyzes of the consequences of the corona pandemic for price developments.

You can find more results on consumer spending by private households on the topic page.