Eurostat: Albania, the country that spends the most on bread in Europe and has the most expensive

Albania, one of the poorest countries in Europe, is ranked as the country where its inhabitants spend more on bread and cereals in relation to their income.

According to tables published by the European Institute of Statistics (Eurostat), nominal expenditures on bread and cereals, as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP - which measures the value of final goods and services produced by the economy in a year) were 4.8%, in 2020, the highest in Europe (see graph: Nominal expenditures as a percentage of GDP, bread and cereals, 2020).

The pandemic year has affected the increase of expenditures for this vital product, while in the period 2016-2019, this indicator was reduced to 4.7% of GDP.

The second country after us is Romania, with 4% of GDP, as expenditures for bread and cereals, Montenegro, with 3.9% of GDP, followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina with 3.1% and Macedonia with 3%. Greece, though a country in the European Union, also spends 2.7% of GDP on bread and cereals. Serbia has this lowest indicator in the region, with 2.4% (data for Kosovo are missing).

The average of candidate and potential candidate countries (excluding Turkey and Kosovo) is 3% of GDP, much higher than the average of 1.3% of the 27 European Union countries.

In absolute terms, the average per capita expenditure on bread and cereals is 220 euros per year, the highest in the region, along with Montenegro (266 euros). The lowest level in the region is in Macedonia (157 euros) and then Serbia (164 euros). Developed countries spend more per capita on this product, as it is more expensive, but due to the high income, it does not weigh in their pockets.

The most expensive bread in Europe by purchasing power

Eurostat reports that the prices of bread and cereals in Albania were as much as 70% of the European Union average (price level indicator, EU-27 = 100). But, measured

sipas metodës së fuqisë blerëse (ku mesatarja e Bashkimit Europian merret si referencë me 1), shqiptarëve u kushton blerja e bukës 87 herë më shtrenjtë se një europiani. (shiko grafikun: Buka dhe drithërat sipas barazisë së fuqisë blerëse, viti 2020).

Shqipëria është shteti që ka peshën më të lartë të shpenzimeve për ushqime në raport me totalin, një tregues ky i nivelit të ulët të të ardhurave, që dikton plotësimin e nevojave bazë, përpara se të fillojë të mendojë për shpenzime më pak bazike e deri të ato që nuk janë të domosdoshme, si psh argëtimi. Të ardhurat mesatare për frymë të shqiptarëve janë sa 31% e mesatarës së Bashkimit Europian, më e ulëta në Europë (pas nesh është Bosnja me 32%)

According to Eurostat tables, expenditures on food and alcoholic beverages account for 38% of the total for Albanian households, compared to 13% which is the average of the 27 countries of the European Union and 30.6% which has the second country in the list after us, Macedonia. Veriut. (See graph: Final expenditures on consumption, food and non-alcoholic beverages, 2019)

Recently, some bakeries in the country have increased the price of bread by 10 lek, bringing it to 80 lek, with an increase of about 14%.

Members of the Association of Bread, Pastry and Bakery Producers say that soon the increase in the price of bread by 10 lek will occur throughout the market. The main reason for the increase in the price of bread is the increase in the price of flour in the domestic market by 5 lek / kg since the beginning of August./Monitor