“Eating out” in Brazil, the United Kingdom and Spain: a review of the official statistics

O "comer fora de casa" no Brasil, Reino Unido e na Espanha: uma revisão das bases de dados estatísticos oficiais e perspectivas para comparação

Abstract

The objective of this article is to compare the official databases of three countries, Brazil, Spain and the United Kingdom, on the data related to food expenses, especially "eating out", comparing their methodologies, concepts and organization. In this sense, comparative studies that look to differences and similarities in different social, economic and cultural contexts contribute to the understanding of this phenomenon, and official statistical data sources are one of the possible forms to investigation, despite their limitations in terms of methodological confluence. The main sources of official data come from the responsible research institutes in each country. In Brazil, the main source of official data comes from "Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares" (POF), conducted by "Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística" (IBGE). In Spain, the main source of official data comes from “Encuestas de Presupuestos Familiares” (EPF base 2006), conducted by "Instituto Nacional de Estadística" (INE) and the "Encuesta del Consumo Extradoméstico" conduced by "Ministério de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente" (MAGRAMA). Finally, in the United Kingdom, the main sources of data are the Living Costs and Food Survey (LCF), conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Food Statistics Pocketbook drawn up by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The results indicate that there are many difficulties in analyzing the official databases with respect to the "eating out" phenomenon, either because of the limitations of the data themselves or because of the limitations in performing comparative analyses in a direct way.