anchor: However, because the number of households has been increasing every year, the replacement of total by per-household volume figures produces annual growth rates which are lower than those shown in Tables 1, 2 and 3. That is, the positive annual growth rates in Tables 1, 2 and 3 shrink in Tables 4, 5 and 6 and the negative rates augment in absolute terms.
positive: The number of households has been increasing every year.
negative: The number of households has been decreasing every year.