The Azorean families had in 2005/2006, along with the families of the region of Lisbon, an annual clear profit superior to the national average, which corresponded to 22.136 euros (1.845 euros / month).

According to the data of the Inquiry to the Expenses of the Families published today by the National Statistics Institute (INE), the families resident in the Region – 1,9 percent of the total of the Country – had advantages of 6,3 percentage points above the national average.

The Azores stood out in the national plan on the subject of familiar profits for another reason - along with Madeira they had the lowest contribution tax of the pensions for the profits of the families (21,6 percent).

In compensation, the profits of the work on account of somebody else represented, in the period in reference, 58,6 percent of the annual bill of the Azorean families.

According to the inquiry of the INE, the families of the Azores that stood out in the national plan for a bigger number of children - 24,8 and 17,7 percent with a child and two dependent children, respectively - also registered a volume of annual expenses superior to the average found for the North and Centre regions, Alentejo and Madeira.

In 2005 and 2006, the Azores were, also, along with the Centre, the Portuguese region with a bigger rate of ruralness - 25,7 percent of its families lived predominantly in a rural environment.

The data of the INE still show that most of the Azorean families (95,2 percent) lived in accommodations of dwelling type, a situation different from the one in the Country, and that almost all the housing park of the Region had good water supply.

According to the same inquiry, the Region was a holder of the biggest proportion of fixed telephones per residence (78 percent), the same thing happened in terms of possession of drying machines (41,7 percent).