The basic goal of this survey is to provide the necessary database for formulating national policies at various levels. It represents the contribution of the household sector to the Gross National Product (GNP). Household Surveys help as well in determining the incidence of poverty, and providing weighted data which reflects the relative importance of the consumption items to be employed in determining the benchmark for rates and prices of items and services.
Generally, the Household Expenditure and Consumption Survey is a fundamental cornerstone in the process of studying the nutritional status in the Palestinian territory.

The raw survey data provided by the Statistical Office was cleaned and harmonized by the Economic Research Forum, in the context of a major research project to develop and expand knowledge on equity and inequality in the Arab region.
The main focus of the project is to measure the magnitude and direction of change in inequality and to understand the complex contributing social, political and economic forces influencing its levels. However, the measurement and analysis of the magnitude and direction of change in this inequality cannot be consistently carried out without harmonized and comparable micro-level data on income and expenditures.
Therefore, one important component of this research project is securing and harmonizing household surveys from as many countries in the region as possible, adhering to international statistics on household living standards distribution. Once the dataset has been compiled, the Economic Research Forum makes it available, subject to confidentiality agreements, to all researchers and institutions concerned with data collection and issues of inequality.
Data is a public good, in the interest of the region, and it is consistent with the Economic Research Forum's mandate to make micro data available, aiding regional research on this important topic.