The reference budget for SIFO has been updated with the 2024 figure

The reference budget for SIFO, with the associated calculator, has been updated with new figures for 2024. In this year’s update, the researchers have revised the basis for calculating costs within the consumption area linked to play, media and leisure. This update has resulted in major changes in the cost estimates for various groups in the reference budget.

Updated costs for play, medium and leisure

The new calculations show that it is costs for media use and leisure, other daily necessities and clothing and shoes that have had the largest percentage increase since February last year. The costs of daycare and after-school arrangements have been reduced for some groups in the same period.

– The costs of play, media and free time will be greatly reduced for adults in the reference budget this year. At the same time, these costs increase for children between the ages of three and 17, says SIFO researcher and project manager Marthe Hårvik Austgulen.

What is the reference budget?

The reference budget shows what it costs to live at an acceptable level of consumption for households of different sizes and with different age and gender composition. Expenses for housing and electricity are not included in the budget.

The reference budget for SIFO has been updated annually since 1987 and is used frequently by the public sector, banks and private individuals. The reference budget is a good starting point for setting up your own budget.

– The budget is a long-term budget, where it is planned that money be set aside for less frequent purchases of expensive and durable consumables, says Austgulen.

This year’s update

The reference budget is updated annually, but the way in which the various consumption areas are updated varies. In addition to the fact that the prices have changed since last year, the cost estimates in the reference budget this year are affected by the fact that two of the baskets have been updated, both with new content and new price collection in the market.

In the 2024 version of the reference budget, the basis for the consumption areas “play and media use” and “media use and leisure” has been revised, and new prices have been collected. In addition, new prices have been collected for the consumption areas “travel costs”, “car costs”, “nursery” and “activity school AKS”. The prices for the rest of the consumption area are CPI-adjusted to February 2024 prices.