Luxembourg Consumption Study (LCS) Database – Beta Launch (September 2026)

The Luxembourg Consumption Study (LCS) Database is a harmonised, cross-national micro-database of household consumption expenditure – launched in its current beta version status in September 2026. It builds the third pillar of the LIS Cross-National Data Center’s microdata infrastructure, alongside the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) Database and the Luxembourg Wealth Study (LWS) Database. Together, the three databases allow researchers to study the joint distribution of income, consumption, and wealth (ICW) at the household level, across countries and over time.

LCS draws on household budget survey data from countries across the income spectrum, using a framework broadly aligned with the international COICOP 2018 classification while capturing both monetary and non-monetary consumption, including purchased goods and services, imputed rent, own production, and in-kind transfers. Consumption is widely regarded as a more direct and stable measure of material well-being than income, particularly at the lower end of the distribution, making LCS a valuable resource for comparative research on living standards, poverty, and inequality.

Main Documents of the LCS Database

• LCS variable list available here.
• LCS technical document is available for download from here.
• For extensive documentation on the LCS Database, enter METIS.

Content of LCS Flow Variables

In order to provide more detailed documentation to our users, LIS has published detailed content tables of the flow variables for each dataset, available in three downloadable Excel documents per country. The information is organised by country and within each country by year, giving a comprehensive overview to the users.

• Consumption Flow Variables:
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  In this document the users can find the original content that was mapped in each LCS consumption flow variable (at the detail level provided by the data provider) from the main flow variables blocks: COICOP consumption expenditure categories, LCS household consumption, and LCS consumption flows from durables.
• Income Flow Variables:
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  In this document the users can find the original content that was mapped in each LIS flow variable (at the detail level provided by the data provider) from the main flow variables blocks: Current Income (with details on labour income, capital income, pensions, other public social benefits, and private transfers), Extraordinary Income, Income Deductions Transfers Paid and Loans Repayments (with details on income taxes and contributions, other direct taxes, inter-household transfers paid, mortgage and other loans instalments paid), Consumption Expenditure (by 12 categories), and Imputed Rent. The details are particularly useful for the content of public social benefits in which are listed the original benefits included in the original variables at the level provided by the original data source. The document details what is mapped at the individual level for the variables provided at the individual level and at the household level for all variables.
• Public Transfers by type (alternative set):
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  This document provides the contents of the alternative set of variables that splits the benefits by type in insurance-based (contributory) – p/hpub_i, universal benefits (non-contributory and non-means tested) – hpub_u, and assistance benefits (means and/or assets tested) – hpub_a. Please note that this breakdown might not be available for all datasets or all benefits (e.g., some of the original variables could contain more benefits of different types In the cases where the original variable contains a mix of benefits of different types, or if for other reasons the benefit type cannot be determined, these variables are mapped at the upper level in the hpublic variable. Additionally, a benefit type may change over time; for example, policymakers can restrict eligibility for an initial universal benefit to only those in need, effectively transforming it into a means-tested benefit.

Country	Consumption flows	Income flows	Public Transfers by type (alternative set)
Belgium	be_conflows	be_incflows	be_iua
Finland	fi_conflows	fi_incflows	fi_iua
France	fr_conflows	fr_incflows	fr_iua
Israel	il_conflows	il_incflows	il_iua
Italy	it_conflows	it_incflows	it_iua
Laos	la_conflows	la_incflows	la_iua
Luxembourg	lu_conflows	lu_incflows	lu_iua
Mali	ml_conflows	ml_incflows	ml_iua
Mexico	mx_conflows	mx_incflows	mx_iua
Palestine	ps_conflows	ps_incflows	ps_iua
Philippines	ph_conflows	ph_incflows	ph_iua
Poland	pl_conflows	pl_incflows	pl_iua
South Africa	za_conflows	za_incflows	za_iua
Spain	es_conflows	es_incflows	es_iua
Switzerland	ch_conflows	ch_incflows	ch_iua
United Kingdom	uk_conflows	uk_incflows	uk_iua

Note: These documents will be updated every time LIS releases new datasets with the new countries added, additional years for existing countries, and any revisions to previous data that might occur.

List of LCS Beta release Datasets

For convenience, throughout our documentation, LIS uses short country/territory names – i.e., those that are commonly used in cross-national academia – in conjunction with standard two-letter ISO abbreviations. This convention does not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of LIS concerning the legal status of any country or territory. LIS recognizes that several supranational organizations designate country/territory names which may differ from the ones that LIS uses.

LCS Sample files

You may download sample files available in Stata format onto your personal computer in order to check your syntax and debug your programs before submitting them via LISSY. Sample files are for instructional purposes only; do not draw substantive conclusions based on these files. These artificial samples contain sub-samples of two LCS datasets and consist of a random selection households and their respective household members.

Dataset type:
ch = Household Dataset  
cp = Individual Dataset

Note: R, in LISSY, works with Stata files. To check your R syntax, please, download the Stata files above and access them through the R readstata13 package

Feedback – LCS beta version

Looking for an additional non-harmonised variable?

Our documentation lists the source variables underlying each harmonised consumption flow. If a variable relevant to your research is not currently included — whether related to consumption or any other national-specific detail — let us know. We are glad to explore adding it.

With the beta release of LCS, we more broadly encourage users to explore the data and work with it for their research. If you have any other feedback ahead of the official LCS launch in 2027, please contact Jörg Neugschwender (neugschwender@lisdatacenter.org) or send an email to the LIS user support ( usersupport@lisdatacenter.org).