Romania has the lowest food prices in the EU

Sorin Melenciuc 20/06/2018 | 14:08

Romania has the lowest food and non-alcoholic beverages among the 28 European Union member states, with 62 percent of EU average, and ranks second-lowest in terms of prices for consumer goods and services, according to Eurostat data released on Wednesday.

Prices for consumer goods and services in Romania are 52 percent of the EU average, the second-lowest level after Bulgaria (48 percent), but below Poland (56 percent), Hungary (62 percent), Lithuania (65 percent) and Croatia (67 percent).

Prices average for consumer goods and services in EU, 2017

“Denmark (142 percent of the EU average) had the highest price level, followed by Luxembourg (127%), Ireland and Sweden (both 125%), Finland (122%) and the United Kingdom (117%),” Eurostat said.

Eurostat’s survey show price averages by country for six selected consumer goods and services: food and non-alcoholic beverages, alcoholic beverages and tobacco, clothing, personal transport equipment, consumer electronics, and restaurants and hotels.

Romania has the lowest prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages, with 62 percent of EU average in 2017, below Poland (65 percent) and Bulgaria (73 percent).

Romania also has the second-lowest prices for alcoholic beverages and tobacco (69 percent of EU average, after Bulgaria – 56 percent) and for restaurants and hotels (53 percent, after Bulgaria – 45 percent) and the third-lowest prices for personal transport equipment (83 percent, after Slovakia – 81 percent – and the Czech Republic – 82 percent), according to Eurostat.

Romania is close to the EU average in terms of prices for clothing (92 percent) and consumer electronics (95 percent).

Higher real GDP per capita due to low prices

Eurostat data are based on the results of a price survey covering more than 2,400 consumer goods and services across Europe, which is part of the Eurostat-OECD Purchasing Power Parity program.

This price survey is important because its results are included in other important survey, like the GDP per capita in purchasing power standards (PPS).

Due to its low prices, Romania ranks above Croatia in terms of GDP per capita in PPS in 2017 (63 percent of EU average compared to 61 percent for Croatia), despite its lower wages and nominal GDP per capita (EUR 9,600 for Romania in 2017, EUR 11,700 for Croatia).

For the same reason, Romania ranks above Hungary in another important EU ranking, of Actual Individual Consumption (AIC), a measure of “material welfare of households”.

According to Eurostat, Romania registered last year the fourth-lowest AIC level in EU, with 68 percent of EU average, scoring better than Bulgaria (55 percent), Croatia (61 percent) and Hungary (63 percent).

 

Credit photo: dreamstime.com

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