A C T A U N I V E R S I T A T I S L O D Z I E N S I S F O L I A O E C O N O M I C A 1 8 2 , 2 0 0 4 Bogusław a G ó ra l* C H A N G E S IN T H E S T R U C T U R E O F C O N S U M P T IO N IN P O L A N I) IN T H E A S P E C T O F IN T E G R A T IO N W IT H T H E E U R O P E A N U N IO N 1. In trod u ction
T he potential Polish m em bership in the EU gives the im pression that the Poles com pare their standards o f living with citizens o f other EU countries.
H ow ever, according to B. Kolny and A. M alysa-K aleta (2001, p. 93), it is not easy to note how much the integration processes w ith E uropean structures contribute to the changes in the sphere o f consum ption in Poland and w hat is their consequence. U ndoubtedly however, the changes that have taken place in the second h alf o f the 20lh century in the sphere o f consum ption o f highly developed societies are so significant and vast that C zesław B yw alec says sim ply about consum ption revolution (Bywalec, R udnicki 2002, p. 129).
Consum ption in the practice o f socio-econom ic life o f the previous half - century is perceived as an im portant stim ulant o f econom ic and social developm ent. It has stopped to be treated as a passive effect o f m anufacturing processes. In the process o f consum ption there interlace econom ic, social and health problem s. All o f these accum ulate in the structure o f consum ption, and must be taken into consideration when determ ining the model o f consum ption.
P roviding a proper level o f food consum ption is a very im portant problem because o f both econom ic and social reasons. Thus, a great im portance is drawn not only to the am ount o f consum ed food, but also to the structure of consum ption, w hich altogether is an indicator o f the proper food quality o f the society. S ocio-econom ic conditions, in which the households function, have a crucial influence on the differentiation o f realized patterns o f food consum ption.
A general econom ic developm ent o f many countries has led to the increase o f aspiration and the developm ent o f human consum ption needs. The latest have stopped to be limited to basic goods and services, but apart from food, they include accom m odation conditions, health protection, education, culture and entertainm ent, relaxation and tourism in a bigger and bigger extent.
T he aim o f the hereby article is the attem pt to evaluate the level o f the households’ Polish consum ption in the aspect o f integration with the UE. Taking into account the aim o f the paper:
- t h e analysis o f changes in the structure o f household expenses in Poland and the UE countries was made;
- separation o f characteristic features o f food consum ption patterns in Poland in the background o f food consum ption in the UE countries was attem pted;
- the analysis o f food consum ption dynam ics in Poland in the years 1995-2001 was conducted.
T he basic o f authority analysis o f the changes in the structure o f household consum ption are the C entral Statistical Office (G U S) household budgets data. The com parison o f the level and structure o f food consum ption was m ade on the basis o f food balance sheets elaborated by the FAO. Food balance sheets are elaborated in such a way that international com parisons are possible.
2. N ew p h en om en a and ten d en cies in the co n su m p tion sp h ere
In the sphere o f consum ption as a new phenom enon, the ecologization has appeared, w hich is expressed by eco-consum ption, also called a green consum ption. T he grow ing aw areness o f m aintaining natural attitude to life results in the fact that in European countries the percentage o f buyers declaring purchasing or at least the intention of purchasing ecological products is very high, even these products are often more expensive. It concerns though 75% o f the G erm ans, 73% o f the French and 71% o f the Spanish (M azurek-Łopacińska 2001, p. 175). In less developed European countries, i.e. the countries o f Eastern Europe, ecological aw areness o f the consum ers is lower, which results from the low er level o f education and inform ation, low er incom e and a sm aller offer of ecological products. T he globalization o f m arkets as well as the integration processes in Europe speed up the developm ent o f ecological aw areness in these countries. In Poland the increase o f interest concerning ecological food is being noticed - the study results show that in the second h alf o f the nineties about 18% o f the exam ined in the representative, all-Polish survey, the w illingness to purchase ecological food was observed (the results o f a different study even
point out 41% o f the exam ined, who in the sam e survey declared their interest in healthy food; the problem , however, was based on the divergence in defining ecological products) (B erbeka 2002, p. 298).
An im portant phenom enon noticed in the consum ption sphere in the second half o f the 20th century is servicization based on the fact that at the m om ent in highly developed countries more than a half o f ho useholds’ consum ption expenses are those spent on the purchase o f services. T he dynam ic developm ent o f services becam e the leading section o f econom y. In this section there are almost 70% G D P o f highly developed countries. A lso about 70% o f w orkers are those w orking in services (B yw alec, Rudnicki 2002, p. 131). In Poland the services are also a crucial G D P source (in 1998 in the services section there was created alm ost 60% o f the total Polish G D P 1).
T he particularly high dynam ics o f grow th in the last decades make nonm aterial services. And exactly the phenom enon o f fast grow th o f consum ption o f nonm aterial values (inform ation, know ledge, esthetic experience, health and the im provem ent o f self-consciousness) is defined as dem aterialization o f consum ption.
M oreover, a still developing process o f hom e-centrization (B yw alec, Rudnicki 2001, p. 133) - the concentration o f consum ption at hom e - is observed. In this situation hom e becom es not only a place o f fam ily or social life and relaxation as it has been so far, but also a good enough place to satisfy the needs that earlier had been satisfied outside, e.g. cultural or educational needs, health protection and physical recreation.
T he sym ptom atic feature o f social changes in highly developed countries in the past years is the individualization o f consum ption behaviour and lifestyle, and in consequence the ‘escape to privacy’, w hich altogether is called the privatization o f consum ption (Bywalec, Rudnicki 2001, p. 134).
T he levels and structures o f consum ption analysis in the spatial form ulation and a social-occupational and dem ographic profiles point at the assim ilation of the patterns o f consum ption in supra-national scope, w hich is called the hom ogenization (B yw alec, R udnicki 2001, pp. 13 6-138) o f consum ption. The hom ogenization o f consum ption is reflected in the creation o f so-called global consum ption culture, and is expressed in the trend o f acquiring global products. T ogether with the processes o f unification o f consum ption there appears the heterogenization (B yw alec, Rudnicki 2002, pp. 139-141) o f consum ption. H eterogenization m eans the increase o f differentiation o f consum ption behaviour, w hich is the main result o f the advancing dem ocratization o f bigger and bigger area o f hum an activity and detraditionalization. It is significant that these both tendencies, naturally antagonistic, do not lead to any serious conflicts, even quite the opposite — in their own way they com plem ent each other. To
a great extent, heterogenization derives from the globalization processes as its own reaction to it, especially to the expansion o f the negative results o f globalization.
The extensive consum ption observed in the last decade in highly developed countries, especially in the sphere o f feeding, housing m edical services, entertainm ent and relaxation, not justified by either biological or social and cultural needs, in the longer period may cause the increase o f many pathologies, as for exam ple the rise in m orbidity, accident rate or delinquency. T he warnings com ing from the world o f science and religion caused the appearance o f the phenom enon o f deconsum ption (Bywalec, Rudnicki 2001, pp. 132-148), m eaning conscious lim itations o f consum ption to som e rational m easures. This phenom enon is connected with, so called, the instrum entalization o f consum ption, i.e. treating consum ption not as the specific aim o f life, but mainly as the m eans o f life. Sim ultaneously, there is an increase o f conscious rules o f rational feeding and the interest in healthy food. By no m eans trivial role on this field falls to the mass media, which spread, created in the W estern countries, the cult o f youth, slim figure and good physical and psychological condition.
U ndoubtedly, the m ost visible phenom enon observed in consum ption in the recent years is the process o f virtualization (B yw alec, R udnicki 2001, pp. 138— 158) o f consum ption, w hich should be understood as fulfilling the needs by means o f electronic m ass media, that is m ainly the Internet and television. U niversalizing o f these mass media revolutionized the way o f fulfilling many needs, especially those o f a higher order, i.e. educational and cultural.
T he regularities and new tendencies in the sphere o f consum ption cause perm anent changes on its level and structure in both dim ensions - micro (a household) and m acro (the w hole society). A ccording to the em piric research these changes form som e general regularities o f the evolution o f consum ption. It looks as follow s: together with the increase in households’ w ealth as well as sim ultaneous influence o f other determ inants, in global volum e o f consum ption, the contribution o f food expenses is being low ered (E ngel’s law), the contribution o f industrial goods is grow ing to som e level, and also the percentage o f the service expanses, called the servicization o f consum ption is system atically grow ing as well. The graphic expression o f these changes is presented at Fig. 1.
A nalyzing the picture 1 it may be noticed that according to the, so called, three-section division o f econom y (food production, industrial goods production, services production) together with achieving higher stages o f econom ic and social grow th, the contribution o f section I (food) is relatively decreasing, the contribution o f section II (industry) is grow ing to som e extent and then lowering, and the contribution o f section III (services) is grow ing system atically. This division o f the sphere o f production has its reflection in the sphere o f consum ption.
T h e structure of consumption
--- Food (Ż) ---In d u itn a l q o o d t (P) ---S e rv ic e s (U )
Fig. 1. H ousehold s’ wealth versus the level and structure o f consum ption S o u r с e: Cz. B yw alec, L. Rudnicki 2002, p. 127.
3. S tru ctu re o f co n su m p tio n in P oland and th e E U co u n tries
The research o f the structure o f households’ consum ption expenditures o f the ways o f estim ating the level o f life o f the w hole society. T he analysis o f the data included in table 1 lets us claim that in the structure o f P olish households’ expenses som e crucial changes have taken place.
Table I. The structure o f consum ption in Poland and in chosen countries o f the European Union (in % o f total expenses)
Country Years Food"
Clothing and footwear Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels
Furnishings, household equipment Health Transport and commu nication Education, culture'', restaurants and hotels Austria 2000 15.3 6.6 19.4 8.2 3.2 15.7 24.2 Belgium 2000 16.8 5.4 22.7 5.5 3.8 17.9 15.4 Denmark 2001 17.5 4.9 28.1 5.8 2.7 13.8 16.6 Finland 2000 18.2 4.5 25.5 4.6 3.7 17.0 18.7 France 2001 17.8 4.8 23.5 6.2 3.5 17.4 17.0 Greece 2000 21.4 11.0 17.0 6.4 5.0 110 22.5 Spain 2000 18.5 6.5 14.1 6.0 3.4 15.3 29.4 Ireland 2000 17.2 7.1 19.2 7.1 2.5 14.8 21.9 Netherlands 1999 14.8 6.2 20.8 7.4 4.0 15.6 17.6 Germany 2000 15.6 6.4 24.5 7.2 4.0 16.9 15.4 Portugal 1999 22.5 7.9 10.6 7.5 4.7 19.8 17.9 Sweden 2001 16.7 5.4 30.6 4.8 2.4 16.2 16.3 United Kingdom 2001 14.1 5.8 18.0 6.1 1.6 16.9 25 4 Italy 2001 16.9 9.5 19.6 9.2 2.9 15.2 18.3 Poland 1994 42.6 7.1 16 5 3.8 3.5 9.2 7.1 1996 40.9 7.0 17.4 3.9 3.6 9.9 7.2 1998 36.8 6.7 17.6 5.3 4.2 10.5 8.0 2000 34.7 5.7 18.2 5.3 4.5 12.5 9.4 2001 34.0 5.3 18.8 4.9 4.5 13.1 9.4
“ Together with drinks and tobacco. b Together with recreation.
S o u r c e : Own calculations on the basis o f Roczniki Statystyczn e GU S, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002, Warszawa. Poland - The European Union, G U S, Warszawa 2003.
B eginning with the analysis o f the changes in the structure o f Polish h ouseholds’ consum ption, it needs to be marked that the period of transform ation brought a crucial divergence between the financial possibilities of particular households (Szot 2002). W e m ay seek the reasons o f such a phenom enon, on the one hand, in the dynam ic grow th o f the highest incom es, and on the other hand, in the lowering o f the purchasing pow er o f those econom ically the weakest. The observed am ong the Polish households polarization o f people’s incom es resulted in the fact that significant differences in the incom es o f the exam ined subjects influenced the differentiation o f the expenses am ong social groups as well as inside them. T he biggest range o f changes took place in the first period o f reform s. It should be also stressed that the differentiation o f the expenses influenced in the strongest way the households o f self-em ployed people as well as farm ers (Trzcińska 1997).
A nalyzing the structure o f consum ption expenses o f the P olish households the leading place is occupied by food expenses, in spite o f the fact that in the econom ically developed countries they make the second or even the third place o f the expenses in general (for exam ple A ustria, B elgium , Denm ark, N etherlands, G erm any, Sweden, United Kingdom , Italy) (B yw alec 1994, p. 54). However, the system atic decrease o f Polish households’ food expenses in the expenses in general is very visible. The contribution o f food expenses in 1994 was oscillating on the level o f 42.6% o f the expenses in general, and in 2001 it was only 34.0% . D espite the fact that the tendency o f the d ecrease o f the contribution o f food expenses is seen in all household groups, the percentage o f contribution o f these expenses depending on socio-econom ic type o f household looks different, as shown in Tab. 2.
Table 2. The percentage o f food expenses o f Polish households in total expenditures by socio-econom ic groups in the years 1993-2001
Specification Years 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 H ouseholds o f em ployees 39.1 37.6 37.4 35.3 33.4 28.5 28.1 27.8 26.2 H ouseholds o f em ployees - farmers 47.9 45.3 46.3 43.8 40.3 38.5 38.0 36.8 34.4 H ouseholds o f farmers 48.8 47.7 47.2 44.3 44.5 43.5 42 .9 41.7 39.4 H ouseholds o f the se lf - em ployed 34.4 32.3 32.3 31.4 30.1 2 5 .0 25.4 25.4 23.7
Households o f retirees and
pensioners 43.2 41.6 41.2 39.7 38.1 33.8 33.3 33.4 30.8
H ouseholds maintained from non-earned sources (other than retirement pay and pension)
48.8 47.4 48.8 47.0 4 4 .4 36.2 38.9
S o u r c e : Own calculations on the basis o f Budżety Gospodarstw D om ow ych in 1999 year and Roczniki S tatystyczn e G U S 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 200 2 , Warszawa.
The highest contribution o f food expenses in the exam ined period took place in the budget o f households connected with farm ing and next with: households m aintained from non-earned sources, and households o f retirees and pensioners. The households o f the self-em ployed people and those belonging to em ployees spend the sm allest part o f their budget on food. It should be stressed that relatively high level o f food expenses in the farm ing househo ld s’ budget results mainly from the fact that in these households a high level o f food consum ption is being realized, but the food mainly com es from their ow n farm land or plots of ground. H ouseholds m aintained from non-earned sources are characterized by a low level o f w ealth and, in consequence, the low level o f expenses and food consum ption.
T he m ost crucial change in the structure o f households’ food consum ption is the rem aining tendency o f the decrease o f contribution o f food expenses in the fam ily budget. As long as this fact has a positive effect in richer households, it certifies o f the w ealth grow th, however, in poorer fam ilies it form s a necessity as one o f the few solutions helping to fulfill other essential needs - very often the needs o f only the basic character, e.g. regular housing fees. A high contribution o f food expenses in Poland in com parison to the countries o f the European Union (Tab. 1) low ers the possibilities o f fulfilling non-food needs.
It should be added that at the m om ent the expenses connected w ith housing m ake the biggest group o f non-food expenses in Poland. Sim ilarly, in other EU countries housing expenses (housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels) m ake even, e.g. in Sw eden 30.6% o f the expenses in general (in D enm ark - 28.1% ; Finland - 25.5% ; Germ any - 24.5% ; France - 23.5% )2.
In Poland the essential grow th o f expenses, so called invariable, which include renting the flat, w ater, electricity, heating and gas, was connected mainly w ith significant grow th o f the prices o f energy carrier as well as the cou ntry’s w ithdraw al from subsidizing the housing economy. T he grow th o f regular fees concerned all types o f households, however, it m ost touched the households o f retirees and pensioners (22.5% o f total expenditures in 2001 y e a r)\ and next the households o f em ployees (18.6% o f total expenses in 2001 year)4. It was the least felt by farm ers’ households as they m ainly live in their own prem ises, which m eans that the rent increase does not concern them so much.
A significant percentage in the structure o f households’ consum ption in Poland and the EU countries are expenses connected with transport and com m unication. In the year 2000 in the EU countries the expenditures oscillated betw een 11% and 19.8%, while in Poland the sam e share m ade up 12.5% and was a 7.3% percentagepoint subordinate than in Portugal. But in the last decade o f the pervious century the system atic grow th the Polish h ouseholds’ expenses within this category expenses was observed, (see Tab. 3).
T he expenses connected with the transport and com m unication are, am ong others, expenses connected with the purchase o f cars - new or second-hand, or other m eans o f transport; the expenses on the exploitation o f m eans o f transport, fares and baggage transport, postal fees, telecom m unication and others. On the basis o f the data included in table 3 we may deduct that the biggest grow th of expenses from this group was noted in farm ing households. In households o f farm ers the expenses grew for about 72.4% in 2001 in com parison to 1993, whereas in the households of em ployees - farm ers his grow th reached 55%. The sm allest increase in this group o f expenses was noted in the households o f the
2 Data 2 0 0 0 included in Table 1.
J Data 2001, Rocznik S tatystyczny GUS, Warszawa 2002, pp. 1 9 2 -1 9 6 . 4 Data 200 1 , R ocznik S tatystyczny GUS, Warszawa 2002, pp. 1 9 2 -1 9 6 .
self-em ployed, although in 2001 in com parison to other households they spent 17.4% o f the expenses in general on transport and com m unication. A gradual increase o f this g ro u p ’s expenses in the expenses in general should be expected.
Table 3. The percentage o f the expenses o f Polish households as far as transport and com m unication is concerned in total expenses according to socio-econ om ic groups in the years
1993-2001 Specification Years 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Households of employees 10.1 9.5 9.5 11.1 10.8 11.9 13.5 13.6 14.0 Households of employees - farmers 10.1 10.6 9.1 10.3 11.1 10.5 12.0 13.3 15.7 Households o f farmers 8.7 9.0 9.6 10.9 10.4 9.7 12.2 12.6 15.0
Households o f the self
- employed 13.9 15.9 13.4 14.7 15.4 14.4 17.3 17.2 17.4 Households o f retirees and pensioners 6.2 6.5 6.1 6.4 6.8 7.2 8.2 8.9 9.5 Households maintained from non-earned sources (other than retirement pay and pension)
6.2 6.0 5.3 5.6 6.0 8.0 7.8
S o u r с e: A s same as Tab. 2.
In the nineties o f the 20lh century there was a grow ing tendency o f Polish households’ to spend money on health protection w hich m eant, am ong others, the increase o f prices o f medical services, m edicam ents, cleaning products and others. T his grow th concerned all groups o f households. H ow ever, it was m ostly felt by the household o f retirees and pensioners, who, because o f their age spent a lot on health protection (in 2001 - 7.4% o f the expenses in general)5. In the year 2000 am ong the EU countries the Greek (5% ) spent the biggest am ount o f m oney on health protection (see Tab. 1).
M oreover, the lim itation o f the household expenses on clothing and footw ear was noticed in the study o f household budgets. In the case o f richer households the decrease o f the contribution o f clothing and footw ear expenses may be the result o f quality changes, which are taking place consum ption (G rzega 2002, p. 124). In case o f low-wealthy households the decrease o f this group o f expenses should be understood as its specific kind o f saving, necessary
because o f the increase o f contribution o f housing, com m unication and health protection expenses (see Tab. 1).
On the other hand, the increase o f the expenses o f all groups o f Polish households in the period exam ined connected with fulfilling the needs o f further category (expenses on culture, education, sport, recreation) may prove about the increase o f the life standard o f the Polish society, but unfortunately they are very often the changes registered only statistically. The contribution o f the Polish households’ expenses on education, culture, recreation and entertainm ent is still the low est in E urope (see Tab. 1).
A nalyzing the data in table I it may be noticed - as K. M azurek-L opacińska (2001, p. 179) puts it - that “ [...] the existing distances in the line o f consum ption, dividing us from the countries o f the E uropean U nion, have the best chance to defeat the em ployees’ households as well as those which belong to the self-em ployed households | .. .J.” The indicators o f the contribution o f food expenses in these households are only being created on the level o f the indicators realized in the poorly developed countries o f the U nion, i.e. in G reece and Portugal.
It will be the hardest thing for farm ing households as well as the households o f em ployees - farm ers to overcom e the existing differences because such households find it the most difficult adjust to the conditions created by the system transform ation in Poland. The high contribution o f food in the realized structures o f consum ption are accom panied by the lowest, in com parison to other socio-econom ic groups, contribution in the expenses on learning, culture, education, sport and recreation. It is propitious to intensifying o f the delay o f these households in the social developm ent.
C om paring the em piric data included in table 1 lets us claim that in spite o f crucial differences am ong these countries, there are countries sim ilar to Poland in this respect, i.e. G reece or Ireland. The Polish structure o f expenses differs the most from the D anish one.
4. C h an ges in food con su m p tio n in Poland in the b ack grou n d o f food co n su m p tio n in th e EU countries
Because costs o f food are dom inating in the structure o f consum ption expenditures in Poland and in many countries o f the European U nion, one should also m ention that there are significant differences in the level o f consum ption o f basic food products am ong EU countries and betw een these countries and Poland. T hese differences are illustrated by the table 4, presenting basic plant and anim al products consum ption.
Table 4. C onsum ption in kg per capita o f basic food products o f plant and animal origin, as w ell as edible fats in Poland and in the EU countries in 1996 Countries C e r e a ls P o ta to e s L e g u m in o u s V e g e ta b le s F ru it S u g a r M ea t & m e a t p r o d u c ts M e a t M ea t p r o d u c ts F is h M il k (ЛM 60 Ш Edible fats
total animal butter vegetable
Poland 157.5 136.1 2.4 122.1 48.1 42.3 7 3 .4 70.5 2.9 16.5 191.2 9.8 2 5 .6 9.9 3.7 12.0 E U average 107.9 84.8 3.1 114.0 112.5 37.8 90.8 85 .7 5.1 26.1 250.8 12.0 33.5 11.4 3.8 18.3 individually A u stria 82.3 63.5 1.0 77 .7 111.9 37.8 106.5 103.7 2.8 12.2 219 .3 13.6 38.2 14.3 4.3 19.6 Belgium and Luxembourg 98.8 105.4 2.5 125.0 137.6 42.2 92.3 87.7 4 .6 2 1 .0 2 00.6 13.0 46.8 19.3 6.1 21.4 Denmark 108.9 67.2 0.9 8 2 .0 83.6 46.8 103.6 102.3 1.3 23.1 233 .8 13.7 33.7 2 4 .6 2.0 7.1 Finland 7 3 .6 66.4 1.5 68.5 83.2 37.7 67.5 65.1 2.4 34.5 3 4 9 .4 10.4 22.9 7.4 6.7 8.8 France 113.8 72.5 2.1 123.5 95.9 35.1 107.3 9 8 .0 9.3 27.9 2 56.2 15.9 35.2 10.0 8.7 16.5 Greece 149.6 66.1 5.2 246.1 184.4 29.3 81.8 7 7 .8 4 .0 2 5 .6 239.8 10.6 32.7 2.3 0.8 2 9 .6 Spain 103.3 9 8 .6 7.3 134.4 116.0 29.3 103.3 99.5 3.8 37.1 161.1 13.9 30.8 3.6 0.3 26.9 Holland 75.5 85.9 2.7 91.5 130.1 49.8 92.3 9 0 .2 2.1 14.6 337.5 15.0 24.9 5.7 2.1 17.1 Ireland 132.7 133.5 3.0 7 6 .4 75.7 4 0 .6 106.4 84.5 21.9 20.6 250.1 6.3 32.8 14.1 3.7 15.0 Germany 91.1 78.9 1.2 85.9 114.8 37.6 89.0 84.9 4.1 15.6 2 43.2 12.5 39.7 14.3 7.3 18.1 Portugal 127.4 135.5 4.7 161.3 124.6 32.1 85.5 79.8 5.7 58.7 175.6 8.8 30.2 10.4 1.4 18.4 Sw eden 9 9 .9 65.1 1.1 6 7 .0 93.3 4 3 .0 68.2 6 6 .4 1.8 30.8 356.2 12.2 36.2 14.8 4.9 16.5 U nited K ingdom 96.3 110.8 4.6 88.0 83.2 39.0 76.5 73.5 3.3 20.1 2 34.0 10.3 25.7 6.2 3.1 16.4 Italy 157.6 37.2 5.5 168.4 141.3 28.6 9 0 .0 86.1 3.9 23.1 2 54.2 12.1 34.9 8.3 2.3 24.3
S o u r c e : Food Balance Sheets. FAO, 1998. to
Ch anges in th e S tr u ct u re of Consu mptio n in P o la n d in th e ...
In each country or group o f the EU countries specific patterns o f food consum ption have form ed, which should be understood as repeatable structure o f consum ption, particularly with regard to type o f food. M uch influence on shaping o f these patterns have conditions o f natural environm ent (soil, clim ate, access to w ater regions), econom ic factors (incom es, availability o f food) and cultural (habits, custom s).
In com parison to the EU countries, the pattern o f food consum ption in Poland is close to the one o f G reat Britain with regard to consum ption o f fats, whereas in the structure o f fat’s consum ption the share o f anim al fats is higher than o f vegetable fats. T he level of meat consum ption in Poland is significantly low er than in the EU , with sim ultaneous very high consum ption o f pork (as in case o f D enm ark). C onsum ption o f poultry is much low er than in case o f the EU countries. C onsum ption o f fish is low, as in case o f H olland and G reat Britain. C onsum ption o f m eat is 4,4 times higher than the consum ption o f fish. C onsum ption o f m ilk is low, as in case o f B elgium and L uxem burg, the same happened with consum ption o f eggs, as in case o f G reat Britain.
C onsum ption o f potatoes in Poland is very high, higher than in the EU countries, sim ilar level o f consum ption was reached in Portugal and Ireland only. Poland belongs to the group o f countries with very high consum ption o f cereals, as in case o f Italy and Greece.
In com parison to the EU countries, the pattern o f food consum ption in Poland can be characterised by low consum ption o f b eef and poultry and high consum ption o f pork. C onsum ption o f fish, milk and eggs is low. Poland has the highest consum ption o f potatoes (in 1996 - 136,1 kg per capita annually). C onsum ption o f cereals and sugar is high, while the consum ption o f fruit is particularly low. It constitutes 43% o f average fruit consum ption in the EU. C onsum ption o f vegetables is higher than the EU average.
A nalysis o f the diagram o f food consum ption dynam ics in 2001 shows significant changes in the structure o f food consum ption in Poland, in com parison to the year 1995.
G eneral tendency o f the years 1995-2001 was the drop o f anim al p ro ducts’ consum ption, with sim ultaneous increase o f consum ption o f m ajority plant products. Increase o f the consum ption regarded m ainly fruit, eggs, m eat and its products, edible fats and sugar. W hereas, the consum ption o f cereal, potatoes and milk decreased. Only the consum ption o f vegetables stayed unchanged.
T here have been significant structural changes in cross-section o f respective food p ro d u cts’ groups in com parable periods. W ith regard to m eat, the changes concerned the increase o f poultry consum ption and relative stabilization o f pork consum ption w ith sim ultaneous reduction o f beef consum ption. T he structure of fats’ consum ption also changed. There was a partial substitution o f butter and
animal fats by vegetable fats6. The changes can be also linked to the increase o f significance in social education o f the issue concerning the process o f exchanging anim al fats with vegetable fats with regard to healthy life style.
(according to the balance data)
— — fruit — — eggs
- - - fats — ---m e a t and variety m eats --- sugar — • ■ — vegetables
---cereals ...potatoes
— - — -m ilk ____
Diagram 1. Dynam ics o f consum ption o f chosen food products in Poland in the year 2001 ( 1 9 9 5 = 1 0 0 )
S o u r c e : Own calculation based on Statistical Yearbooks 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2 001, 200 2 , G U S, Warszawa, relevant years.
C hanges in the consum ption o f milk products w ere characterised by the decrease o f liquid m ilk consum ption while the increase o f cheese, yoghurt, deserts and m ilk drinks consum ption was observed7.
In the years 1995-2001, the strong upward tendency in the consum ption o f fruit, observed in the first half o f nineties, m aintained. T his was influenced by the increase o f supply, particularly with regard to im ported fruit. In 2001, a statistical citizen o f Poland consum ed 39.6% m ore fruit than in the year 1995.
In the years 1995-2001, the consum ption o f potatoes decreased by 4% , also the consum ption o f cereals decreased by 1%, with significant changes in its
6 On basis o f data from G U S Statistical Yearbooks 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2 0 0 0 , 2001, 2002, G US, W arszawa (relevant years).
structure, concerning the decrease of bakery products and flour consum ption and at the sam e tim e increase o f noodles consum ption. W hereas, consum ption of vegetables stayed unchanged in the com parable periods.
In Poland, there has been observed an increase o f im portance o f highly processed food products in each product group as against the decrease o f share o f sim ple products, so called unary products, which is proved by detailed survey o f household budgets carried out by the GUS. M oreover, results o f this survey indicate the increase o f consum ers grow ing interest in consum ption outside households and the increased dem and for gastronom y services. F urtherm ore, the above m entioned phenom ena indicate significant transform ation o f consum ption pattern tow ards its m odernisation. This transform ation has positive im pact also from the nutritional point of view, as it im plies increase o f the anim al protein products, fruit and vegetables level in the diet, with sim ultaneous decrease of animal fats’ consum ption8. These tendencies seem to be perm anent. They correspond to the well known principles o f consum ption grow th influenced by the increase o f incom es, observed in all econom ically developed countries o f the world. D espite o f the fact that in the years 2000-2 0 0 1 , the decrease o f basic food products’ consum ption has been observed, it is regarded that these phenom ena are tem porary and in the follow ing years we will observe the return o f growth tendencies.
5. F inal rem arks
G row ing im portance o f consum ption in life o f contem porary societies confirm s variety o f new trends within the area o f consum ption in highly developed countries.
This opinion seem s to be also confirm ed by the analysis o f the structure o f consum ption costs o f Polish households, w here a characteristic feature is the constant dow nw ard trend in the share o f food costs in household budgets, which appeared in 1993. It is also characterised by relatively high and grow ing share of “fixed” costs, as well as grow ing share o f health, culture, education, sport, leisure, transport and com m unication costs. The share o f clothing and shoes costs is constantly decreasing. The direction o f those changes is in accordance with the already known principles o f consum ption developm ent, influenced by the increase o f incom es, observed in all econom ically developed countries o f the world.
8 P opyt na żyw ność. Stan i perspektyw y. Raporty Rynkowe, M inisterstwo Rolnictwa i Rozwoju W si, W arszawa, 200 1 , p. 1 9 -2 0
D espite significant difference in the co sts’ structure am ong European countries, there are countries sim ilar to Poland with regard to that, i.e. G reece and Ireland. T he biggest difference can be seen betw een the Polish structure o f costs and the one o f Denmark.
Main group o f costs in the total expenditures, both in Poland and in some EU countries, consist o f food costs. The pattern o f food consum ption in Poland, in com parison with the EU countries is characterised by very high consum ption o( potatoes, cereal, sugar and pork. C onsum ption o f fruit, legum inous plants, milk and its products, fish, poultry, beef, eggs, anim al fats, butter and vegetable fats is significantly low er in com parison to the average consum ption in the European Union.
General tendency o f food consum ption dynam ics in Poland in the years 1995-2001 was the drop o f anim al products consum ptions, with sim ultaneous increase o f most plant products. Increase o f consum ption concerned m ainly fruit, eggs, meat and its products, which is important from the nutritional point o f view.
Keeping in m ind the accession o f Poland to the European U nion, it is im portant to rem em ber the differences in wealth o f respective groups o f households and introduction o f such an econom ic and social policy w hich allow s to reduce the gap betw een the poorest group o f Polish and analogous households o f the other E uropean Union countries.
R eferences
B e r b e k a J. (2002), O cen a konsum pcji w P olsce w św ietle za ło żeń zró w n o w a żo n ej konsum pcji, [in:] K onsum pcja i rynek w warunkach zmian system ow ych , red. Z. Kędzior i E. K ieżel, Warszawa, p. 298.
Hudżety Gospodarstw D om ow ych 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998. 2 000, 2 002, G U S, Warszawa (relevant years).
B y w a l e c Cz., R u d n i c k i L. (2002), K onsum pcja, Warszawa, p. 1 2 9 -1 3 3 .
B y w a l e c Cz. (1 9 9 3 ), D ochody, konsum pcja i p o zio m życia sp o łeczeń stw a p o lsk ieg o w / fa z ie tran sform acji system ow ej, [in:] Z ach ow ania p o d m io tó w sfery konsum pcji, K atowice, p. 54. FAO 1998; Food Balance Sheets, Roma
G r z e g a U. (2 0 0 2 ), Zm iany w w ydatkach konsum pcyjnych polskich g o sp o d a r stw dom ow ych, [in:] K onsum pcja i rynek w warunkach zmian system ow ych , red. Z. Kędzior i E. K ieżel, Warszawa, p. 124.
K o l n у В . M a l y s a - K a l e t a A. (2001), D eterm inan ty zm ian zach ow ań konsum entów, [in: ] Z ach ow an ia p o d m io tó w rynkowych w P olsce a p ro c e s in teg ra cji eu ropejskiej, red. U. Janeczek, K atowice, p. 93.
M a z u r e k - Ł o p a c i ń s k a K. (2001), P olscy konsum enci w d ro d ze d o Unii E uropejskiej, [in:] Z ach ow ania p o d m io tó w rynkowych w P olsce a p ro c e s in tegracji eu ropejskiej, red. U. Janeczek, K atowice, p. 175.
Polska - U nia Europejska, G U S, Warszawa 2003.
P opyt na żyw ność. Stan i p e rsp ek tyw y . Raporty Rynkowe, M inisterstwo R olnictw a i Rozwoju Wsi, Warszawa, 2001.
Statistical Yearbook 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 200 0 , 2 001, 2 002, G US, Warszawa, relevant years
Rocznik S tatystyki M iędzyn arodow ej 200 0 , G US, Warszawa 2001. S z o t E. (2 0 0 2 ), Z w yczajn a p o lsk a bieda, „R zeczpospolita”, nr 20. Ś w iat w liczbach 2 0 0 2 , The Economist.
T r z c i ń s k a D. (1 9 9 7 ), Sytuacja g o sp o d a rstw dom ow ych w latach dziew ięćd ziesią tych , „W iadom ości Statystyczne”, nr 12.
Bogusława Góral
ZMIANY W STRUKTURZE KONSUMPCJI W POLSCE W ASPEKCIE INTEGRACJI Z UE
Autorka artykułu opisuje now e zjawiska i tendencje w sferze konsumpcji w drugiej połow ie X X wieku, pokazując zm iany, jakie nastąpiły w strukturze konsumpcji w P olsce w aspekcie integracji z UE. Okazuje się, że kierunek tych zmian jest zgodny ze znanymi prawidłowościam i rozwoju konsumpcji pod w pływ em wzrostu dochodów , obserwow anym i w e wszystkich gospodarczo rozw iniętych krajach świata.
O ceny poziom u konsumpcji ludności polskiej dokonano ze szczególn ym uw zględnieniem konsumpcji żyw ności, jako że wydatki na żyw ność w ciąż dom inują w strukturze wydatków konsum pcyjnych w P olsce i w ielu krajach Unii Europejskiej.
