I'm guessing that at 40 thousand quid you can have some disposable income, but that at 1200 bucks you spend it all on basics.

At least in rural Syria I noticed the opposite. Food/housing/daycare in the farm never enters GDP those things are 'free' that eat most a western persons paycheck. People will spend half of their entire income on entertainment in the form of cell phone, internet, and energy drinks, cigarettes, as their necessities basically dont pass through commerce.