CAIRO - Egyptians spend half of their income on foodstuffs, drinks and medical care, a survey by the State-backed Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) has disclosed. “Expenditure on food and drinks accounts for 43.6 per cent of the total expenditure of Egyptians. In the second place comes expenditure on housing at 17.6 per cent, followed by medical care at 6.4 per cent,” says the survey, which depends on spending and consumption in 2008-2009. It adds that the spending of families in urban areas has increased by 7 per cent against 5.6 per cent in the countryside. Of the money families in urban areas spend on medical care, 52.6 per cent goes on pharmaceuticals; rural families are only slightly behind, spending 52.2 per cent on pharmaceuticals. “The average family spends almost LE482 per annum on medical care,” the survey states, adding that people are spending more on medical care, because of an increase in the average educational standards of breadwinners. Illiterate breadwinners spend an average of 6 per cent of their income on medical care; breadwinners who have finished their secondary education spend an average of 6.7 per cent.