No major shift was recorded in expenditure patterns by families since 2010, preliminary results from a survey of household budgets shows.

The findings form part of the Household Budgetary Survey, which determines the weighting given to various goods and services when calculating the price index on which cost of living adjustments are worked.

The last household survey was published in 2010 and is considered by economists an important tool in the current debate on raising the minimum wage.

A spokesman for the National Statistics Office that carried out the survey said the preliminary findings were presented to the Retail Price Index Advisory Committee last week. The committee is made up of representatives of the social partners.

An important tool in the current debate on raising the minimum wage

“We are not in a position to divulge any preliminary results at the moment but we can say that the RPI weights are in line with the figures established in 2010 and no major shift was recorded,” the spokesman said.

The final weights are expected in the beginning of 2017 and will start being used with the retail price index of January.

The survey provides detailed information about households’ expenditure patterns. It was carried out between April 2015 and March 2016, covering almost 4,000 households and more than 400,000 different expenditure items.

The NSO said the full results of the survey would be published after the summer.

Economist Philip Von Brockdorff had told this newspaper last June that any talk of touching the minimum wage should be preceded by the household budgetary survey findings. These findings give a clearer snapshot of household expenditure and income than the Caritas report outlining the minimum essential budget for a decent living.

The same feeling was expressed by economists Lino Briguglio and Gordon Cordina last week during a presentation on the minimum wage and the Caritas findings to the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development.

The NSO spokesman said the timing of the survey results was in line with timeframes for similar exercises in the past. He said the survey cost just under €1 million.