Albania has the lowest level of per capita income in Europe compared to the EU average, (https://www.monitor.al/shqiperia-e-fundit-ne-europe-per-te-ardhurat-per-fryme-dhe-konsumin-edhe-me-2020-thellohet-diferenca-me-rajonin/) but on the other hand the price level in our country is at the highest regional levels as they are closer to the EU average for 2020.
While in some items like communication and food the price level is comparable to the European Union even higher.
According to Eurostat data, the overall price level in Albania was 58 percent of the EU average by 2020. Neighboring Macedonia had this indicator 50%, Montenegro 57%, Bosnia 55%, Romania 38%. Serbia had a price level as high as 58% of the EU average, the same level as Albania.
But in Albania food prices are approaching the European average. Eurostat calculated that in 2020 food prices in Albania were 83.4% of the EU average and also the highest level in the Region. This performance is also confirmed by domestic consumption when 42 percent of the total monthly expenditures of the basket of goods go to buy food, the highest level in the Region (in other countries it reaches a maximum of 35% in Kosovo) and the EU (where only 13% of total expenditures go for food). Albania is also expensive in the region for clothes. Their prices are approaching the EU average of 96.2% in 2020.
Albania is the most expensive in transport and communication services. Communication tariffs are higher than the EU average (108%). Among the cheapest are the prices of hotels and restaurants (45.8% of the EU average) leaving behind only Turkey and Macedonia which have the cheapest.
europe
According to Eurostat in 2020, price levels for consumer goods and services changed significantly across EU Member States.
Denmark had the highest level as (141% of the EU average), followed by Ireland and Luxembourg (both 136%), Sweden (130%) and Finland (126%), while the lowest price levels were found in Romania (55%), Bulgaria (56%) and Poland (58%) of the EU average.
In general, price levels for consumer goods and services in the EU varied by almost all member states.
In 2020, the price level difference for restaurants and hotels was three times higher from the most expensive, to the cheapest. Price levels ranged from 46% of the EU average in Bulgaria, followed by Romania (53%) and Hungary (56%), to 154% of the Danish average, ahead of Sweden (138%) and Finland (131%). .
Alcohol and tobacco rank second in terms of price level change, with the lowest price levels recorded in Bulgaria (61%), Hungary (69%) and Poland (70%) and the highest in Ireland ( 187% of the EU average), followed remotely by Finland (158%), Sweden (136%) and France (133%). This large price change is mainly due to changes in the taxation of these products between Member States.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages were cheaper in Romania (66% of the EU average) and Poland (68%), while they were most expensive in Denmark (129% of the average), Luxembourg (126%) and Austria (125%). ).
Garments are a group of products where prices varied less between Member States, ranging from an average of 73% in Hungary to 130% in Denmark. Personal transport equipment also recorded a smaller price imbalance between Member States, with Poland (80% of the EU average) cheaper and Denmark (137%) more expensive. Price differences were also limited for consumer electronics, from 87% of the average in Poland to 112% in the Netherlands and Malta.