The Office for National Statistics has issued Family Spending, the annual report of household expenditure in the UK.  This publication is based on the findings of the Living Costs and Food Survey (LCF), a survey of 6,000 households across the UK.  The LCF shows how households spend their money on all items, including food, clothing, leisure, tranport and housing.  It includes detailed regional information.

The latest release indicates that the average household expenditure in the South West in 2006-2008 was £469.20 per week.  This was the fifth highest figure among the 12 UK regions (including Scotland, wales and Northern Ireland) and was above the national average of £459.70.

Among the 12 regions, South West households had the second highest average weekly spend on recreation & culture and on education.  The region also had the third highest household spend on both transport and housing & power (excluding payments related to mortgages and council tax).  On the other hand, the South West had the second lowest average weekly household spend on clothing & footwear and on alcoholic drinks, tobacco & narcotics.

Further information can be found via the link below.  The data tables are accessed via the pdf document.

Information from the LCF is a major source of data for the UK National Accounts and is used as a basis for policy making and to determine the content of the "basket of goods" used to measure inflation in the Retail Price Index.