Detailed breakdown of average weekly household expenditure on goods and services in the UK. Data are shown by place of purchase, income group (deciles) and age of household reference person.

A single member household uses an average of 54 cubic meters of water annually in the United Kingdom. This figure almost doubled when there were two members per household and increased to approximately 191 cubic meters within a household of five. In terms of daily use, a single person household used an estimated 149 liters per day, with water usage amounting to 276 liters per day when two people lived at home. Baths consume the most water There are many household appliances that use water, such as dishwashers, washing machines or toilets, and each uses varying amounts. However, it is baths that use the largest quantity. On average, a bath consumes 80 liters of water per use. In comparison, a shower uses 46 liters per use. Household water bills The average household water bill in the UK differs from company to company. In 2018, customers of water supply and sewerage utility Wessex Water paid on average 245 British pounds for their water bill. This was the most expensive in the UK. Water bills were on average cheapest for customers of Southern Water, at an estimated 158 British pounds. Southern Water covers areas of East Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

The United Kingdom spent approximately 6.85 billion British pounds on its prison system in 2023/24, an increase when compared to the previous year. Between 2011/12 and 2019/20 the UK consistently spent less than it did in 2009/10 and 2010/11, mainly due to the austerity policies pursued by the coalition Government of the time. Throughout this time period, expenditure on prisons was lowest in 2014/15 at 393 billion pounds, and highest in the most recent financial year. Prisoners and prison costs The prisoner population of the United Kingdom was around 92,803 in 2023. Although this was quite a high figure in historical terms, the incarceration rate among the UK's three jurisdictions has fallen slightly since 2008. Nevertheless, there is evidence the government is struggling to cope with the size of the prison population. The number of spare prison places in England and Wales fell to a low of just 768 in September 2023. The average cost of a prison place has also increased recently. In 2015/16, a prison place cost approximately 35,182 pounds per year, reaching 48,162 in 2020/21, before falling slightly to 46,696 pounds in 2021/22. Steep rise in prison violence in the mid-2010s In 2018, there were over 34,000 assaults among prisoners, and a further 10,200 assaults on prison staff in England and Wales. This was far higher than in the years preceding 2018, and correlated with a reduction in prison officers. In 2017, there were just 18,400 prison officers working in England and Wales, compared with almost 25,000 in 2010. Since 2017, however, the number of prisons officers has increased, and in 2023 there were approximately 22,300. It is unclear if this increase in prison officers has succeeded in reducing prisoner violence, with the number of incidents recently rising again following a huge reduction of incidents during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The current average price per night globally on Airbnb is $137 per night.

In 2022/23, the average cost of a prison place in England and Wales was 51,724 British pounds a year, compared with 46,696 British pounds in the previous reporting year. Since 2015/16, the annual cost of one prison place in England and Wales has increased by around 16,542 British pounds.

The average agreed rent for new tenancies in the UK ranged from 665 British pounds to 2,100 British pounds, depending on the region. On average, renters outside of London paid 1,095 British pounds, whereas in London, this figure amounted to 2,025 British pounds. Rents have been on the rise for many years, but the period after the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this trend. Since 2015, the average rent in the UK increased by about 25 percent, with about half of that gain achieved in the period after the pandemic. Why have UK rents increased so much? One of the main reasons driving up rental prices is the declining affordability of homeownership. Historically, house prices grew faster than rents, making renting more financially feasible than buying. In 2022, when the house price to rent ratio index peaked, house prices had outgrown rents by nearly 30 percent since 2015. As house prices peaked in 2022, home buying slowed, exacerbating demand for rental properties and leading to soaring rental prices. How expensive is too expensive? Although there is no official requirement about the proportion of income spent on rent for it to be considered affordable, a popular rule is that rent should not exceed more than 30 percent of income. In 2024, most renters in the UK exceeded that threshold, with the southern regions significantly more likely to spend upward of 30 percent of their income on rent. Rental affordability has sparked a move away from the capital to other regions in the UK, such as the South East (Brighton and Southampton), the West Midlands (Birmingham) and the North West (Liverpool, Manchester, Blackpool and Preston).

How much time do people spend on social media? As of 2024, the average daily social media usage of internet users worldwide amounted to 143 minutes per day, down from 151 minutes in the previous year. Currently, the country with the most time spent on social media per day is Brazil, with online users spending an average of three hours and 49 minutes on social media each day. In comparison, the daily time spent with social media in the U.S. was just two hours and 16 minutes. Global social media usageCurrently, the global social network penetration rate is 62.3 percent. Northern Europe had an 81.7 percent social media penetration rate, topping the ranking of global social media usage by region. Eastern and Middle Africa closed the ranking with 10.1 and 9.6 percent usage reach, respectively. People access social media for a variety of reasons. Users like to find funny or entertaining content and enjoy sharing photos and videos with friends, but mainly use social media to stay in touch with current events friends. Global impact of social mediaSocial media has a wide-reaching and significant impact on not only online activities but also offline behavior and life in general. During a global online user survey in February 2019, a significant share of respondents stated that social media had increased their access to information, ease of communication, and freedom of expression. On the flip side, respondents also felt that social media had worsened their personal privacy, increased a polarization in politics and heightened everyday distractions.

The average per-employee spending on learning and development (L&D) worldwide increased steadily between 2008 and 2019, however fell slightly in 2020. This figure increased again in 2021, reaching almost 1,300 U.S. dollars per worker. There was then a 4.7 percent expenditure decrease in 2022.

Workplace learning and development
Learning and development (L&D), a crucial area of human resource management, is a process aimed at improving an employee’s skills, knowledge, and competency, so to achieve better performances in the workplace. Despite a decrease in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global market size of the workplace training industry increased considerably since 2009. North America alone accounted for almost half of the global market. The growing relevance of workplace training can also be inferred by the increase in the workplace learning hours for employees worldwide.

L&D promotes employee engagement
Employee engagement supports growth through a wide range of benefits, including higher productivity and profitability, and more satisfied customers. Overall, learning & development might help supporting employee engagement. Investing in learning shows employees that they are valued, which generally increases their motivation in the workplace. Employees’ support for L&D is suggested by the considerable share of young workers perceiving it as a useful method to find opportunities within the organization. Moreover, for an effective L&D implementation it is useful to consult employees about their expectations: according to a 2019 survey, half of employees worldwide felt the urge to improve their influencing and negotiating skills. Furthermore, the most popular learning method among employees worldwide was learning in a classroom with a group of colleagues.

According to the source, when looking at average hotel prices per night in selected large cities in the United Kingdom, London recorded the highest average price at 158 British pounds as of April 2024. In contrast, Milton Keynes had the lowest average cost per night in the ranking at 71 British pounds.