Abstract

This study aims to find out the change in the pattern of the household expenditure on food commodities during the period 2007-2012 and compare the data for the two period to explain the change in the consumer behavior based on the evolution in the income level and consumption pattern in Iraq.
The researcher formulates the following hypothesis: There is evolution the consumption pattern of food due to the increase in income of the Iraqi families as a whole, in addition to the influence of social factors such as tradition and life simulation of the upper classes in the income ladder.
The study has reached a number of conclusions Perhaps one of the most important is that (39.4%) of total household expenditure was spent on food consumption, divided between its items in 2007 , While In 2012, and due to changes in the consumption pattern and the increase in the household income ,the percentage of expenditure on food commodities had decrease to become (37.4%) and this proportion explain the big trend toward the consumption of essential commodities represent with food commodities in Iraqi.
At the regional level, with comparing the average of Iraqi household food expenditure with sample of Arabian countries, it became clear that there is not much different, they are all characterized by increased food expenditure, but the difference appears in of expenditure values when compared with average incomes of those countries.