Household Budget Survey 2005

Kosovo Agency of Statistics (formerly known as Statistical Office of Kosovo) has been conducting Household Budget Survey since 2002. The HBS has become a core survey in Kosovo's efforts to build a long-term monitoring and evaluation system of poverty rates and living standards in the country. Collection of data from households is done by Kosovo Agency of Statistics employees through its regional offices.

Data collected through HBS provide information on living standards, consumption and expenditure of families, and households' socio-economic characteristics. One of the objectives of Household Budget Survey is to obtain necessary data for assessing the weight used to calculate the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Also, this survey provides data that will be used as an input for the measurement of private consumption in the National Accounts (NA) of families, as well as for analysis of welfare and poverty at the country level within the specified timeframe.

The data is collected during one year all over Kosovo from a random sample of 2,400 households, following EU standards and international best practices.

The consumption is classified according to the COICOP (Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose) standard to harmonize with National Accounts and Consumer Price Index. Most of the consumption is based on goods bought and services paid for during a reference period. The reference period is one month for daily consumption (supported by diary keeping) and 12 months for durable goods.