Bermudians are spending nearly double the amount on housing than a decade ago, according to the latest statistics.

In 1993, the average weekly household expenditure on housing was $269.23 but in 2004 that figure had shot up to $511.86.

And while incomes have increased at a faster rate in the last ten years, the proportion of a household?s total weekly budget spent on housing has jumped from less than 28 percent to 33 percent in the past decade.

The 2004 Household Expenditure Survey (HES), released yesterday by the Department of Statistics, said that incomes have increased at a faster rate than housing costs, meaning standards of living are greater than in 1993.

Average weekly incomes increased by 62 percent from 1993 to $2,043, the HES said.

The 2004 median annual income was $73,855 an increase of three percent over the $71,622 recorded during the 2000 Census, it said.

The top three costs for households in 2004 were housing; household goods, services and supplies; and food and non-alcoholic beverages, respectively, and claimed 60 percent of the household budget.

The survey said housing costs applied to both home-owners and renters in the form of either mortgages, repairs, maintenance, insurance and property tax, or rents.

Furnished apartments were cheaper than unfurnished dwellings in 2004, it said.

The average household renting an unfurnished apartment spent $1,444 per month but $1,414 on furnished ones.

Non-Bermudians were twice as likely to rent furnished apartments, it said and guest workers contributed to the increase in rent since 1993.

?Non-Bermudians usually choose renting as a means of securing accommodations,? it said.

?As Bermudians generally depend on the same housing market to secure their needs, this resulted in higher demand for a limited housing supply. The heightened demand for rental units combined with rising housing costs for home owners contributed to the higher rent prices.?

In 2004, renters paid an average of $1,432 per month on shelter, a 53 percent increase from the last survey period.

But home owner-occupiers were hit in the wallet too as their average housing costs ballooned from $308.20 per week in 1993 to $618.21 per week in 2004.

The second highest expense at almost 14 percent of total weekly budget for the surveyed households was household goods, services and supplies.

This includes furniture, appliances, child care, utilities, cleaning and paper supplies.

The surveyed households spent an average of $213 per week on these items in 2004, it said, or 13.85 percent of their weekly budget, an increase of cost of $51 per week.

However, due to an increase in average income, the overall outlay for this was nearly three percent less than in 1993.

Electricity bills of $43 per week was the largest utility bill, followed by telephone expenses averaging $22 per week.

However, it said poorer homes earning less than $550 per week spent ten percent of their weekly income on utility bills, whereas homes earning over $2,400 a week spent under four percent.

?This pattern of expenditure was similar to that of food expenditure of which higher income households spent a smaller proportion of their income on the basic essentials of living,? the HES said.

The third highest cost, at almost 14 percent, was food and non-alcoholic beverages, which included grocery shopping as well as eating out at restaurants and cafes.

Households spent $69 more per week on food in 2004 but again, it comprised less of the total weekly budget.

Eating out was the biggest food expense, as households spent an average of $29.65 per week on daytime meals.

The total average weekly expenditure is $1,680 it said, which includes $143 in payments for which the household receives no immediate good or service in return.

Examples of such expenditures include donations to churches and charities, gifts, life insurance and pension contributions, it said.