Analytics, EU – Baltic States, Modern EU
International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics
Thursday, 18.04.2024, 10:26
Problematic convergence: consumer goods’ consumption in the EU
About 11-12%
of income is used for food in the households in Denmark, Germany and Austria;
over 12% in such states as Ireland, Cyprus and Finland.
Within the
margin of 13% are the households’ expenses in such states as Belgium, Portugal,
France and Sweden. In 14-15% group are Slovenia and Spain; while Italians are
using 17,7% of households’ income for consumption.
About
20-22% of expenses are for food in Czech Republic, Greece, Slovakia and Malta.
Among the
Baltic States, Estonians are using 23%, Latvians 26,5 and Lithuanians 33,7% of
their income for food consumption; in the most “expensive” group are Polish
households with about 24%, Hungarians with 26,7% and Croatians with 29,5%.
A record-high
consumption expensive is in Lithuanian households (33,7%) and Rumanian with
38,2 per cent.
In some
countries outside the EU, the households’ expenses are comparably high too:
e.g. in Russia 32%, in Belorussia 39,1% and in Ukraine - 54%.
Final household consumption
According to the
Eurostat statistics (June 2018), price level index for household final
consumption expenditures in the EU differs as well. Taking the EU’s average for
100 %, the price level in the Baltic States is about 64-72%, while in Rumania
and Bulgaria is at the level of 48-52%.
One of the most
expensive EU state is Denmark with 41,5% over the European average; while several
EU states are within the range of 100%: the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Finland,
France, the Netherlands, Austria and Germany.
See source.
Besides, on average,
price index in Denmark is twice as high as in Latvia and about 4 times higher
than in Bulgaria.
Electricity, gas
and other fuels are
most expensive in Denmark too, which is about 2-3 times higher than in the
Baltic States, Bulgaria and Rumania.
Price
levels for transport service is also the highest in Denmark –with 44% higher
than the EU’s average, while in the Baltic States it is about 70-85% of the
EU’s average.
Generally,
the price index in the final households’ consumption of the “old” EU states is
about 15% higher than in the “new” Central and Eastern EU’s member states.