Building on the work prepared for OECD (2019[1]), some of the analysis in this report draws on micro-data relating to household consumption expenditures, which come from household budget surveys. The expenditure categories available in national surveys have been harmonised by the OECD in accordance with the Classification of Individual Consumption according to Purpose (COICOP) (UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs - Statistics Division, 2018[2]). This classification, developed by the United Nations Statistics Division, divides consumption into categories, with 12 main categories for the household sector. Data used follows the COICOP classification, with the exception of “insurance related to health”, classified as part of “health” consumption instead of “miscellaneous goods and services”.

Direct investment (gross fixed capital formation) in housing grew significantly in most countries prior to the financial crisis, before dropping sharply around 2007 and then increasing steadily from around 2013. However, trends vary considerably across countries ():