One in 10 households has borrowed money from friends or family to pay for basic services during the recession.

Official figures also show that one fifth of Irish residents have delayed or missed paying a bill over the last two years, while nearly half have spent all or some of their savings.

The figures, released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), reveal that more than half of households cut back on groceries and going out - with two-thirds spending less on clothes and footwear.

The Quarterly National Household Survey found spending on health insurance and pension contributions has also been cut by more than 10%.

The pilot survey evaluated the response of households to the economic downturn in the second quarter of last year.

One member of each household was asked if they had had to cut back on spending on several categories of goods or services as a result of the economic climate in Ireland.

They included utility bills, mortgage payments, groceries, clothing and footwear, holidays, going out, and extra classes for their children.

Some 79% of households said they had cut back their spending on at least one of the listed items, including: one in 10 who delayed or missed loan repayments and a further 10% who skipped paying their credit card bill; one in five reduced spending on club memberships, with 10% cutting back on lessons or classes for adults or children; holidays abroad were also cut back by just under half of all households.