Eurostat: Price levels at restaurants and hotels in Bulgaria 46% of EU average
In 2020, the price level for restaurants and hotels in EU countries was three times as high in the most expensive country as in the cheapest one, according to figures released on June 22 by EU statistics agency Eurostat.
Price levels ranged from 46 per cent of the EU average in Bulgaria, followed by Romania (53 per cent) and Hungary (56 per cent), to 154 per cent of the average in Denmark, ahead of Sweden (138 per cent) and Finland (131 per cent).
Alcohol and tobacco ranked second in terms of price level difference, with the lowest price levels registered in Bulgaria (61 per cent), Hungary (69 per cent) and Poland (70 per cent), and the highest in Ireland (187 per cent of the EU average), followed at a distance by Finland (158 per cent), Sweden (136 per cent) and France (133 per cent).
This large price variation is mainly due to differences in taxation of these products among EU countries, Eurostat said.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages were cheapest in Romania (66 per cent of the EU average) and Poland (68 per cent), while they were most expensive in Denmark (129 per cent of the average), Luxembourg (126 per cent) and Austria (125 per cent).
Clothing is a group of products where prices differed less among EU countries, ranging from 73 per cent of the average in Hungary to 130 per cent in Denmark.
Personal transport equipment also recorded a smaller price disparity among EU member states, with Poland (80 per cent of the EU average) cheapest and Denmark (137 per cent) most expensive.
Price differences were also limited for consumer electronics, from 87 per cent of the average in Poland to 112 per cent in the Netherlands and in Malta.
In 2020, price levels for consumer goods and services differed widely across the EU member states, Eurostat said.
Denmark (141 per cent of the EU average) had the highest price level, followed by Ireland and Luxembourg (both 136 per cent), Sweden (130 per cent) and Finland (126 per cent), while the lowest price levels were found in Romania (55 per cent), Bulgaria (56 per cent) and Poland (58 per cent).
On June 21, Eurostat released figures on actual individual consumption (AIC), a measure of material welfare of households.
In 2020, AIC per capita expressed in purchasing power standards (PPS) varied from 61 per cent to 131 per cent of the EU average across the 27 EU countries.
In 2020, nine member states recorded AIC per capita above the EU average.
The highest level in the EU was recorded in Luxembourg, 31 per cent above the EU average, followed by Germany (23 per cent above) and Denmark (21 per cent above).
The Netherlands, Austria, Finland, Belgium, Sweden and France recorded levels between five per cent and 20 per cent above the EU average.
In 13 EU countries, AIC per capita was between the EU average and 25 per cent below.
In Cyprus, Italy, Lithuania and Ireland the levels were 10 per cent or less below the EU average, while Spain, Czech Republic, Portugal, Malta, Poland and Slovenia were between 11 per cent and 20 per cent below. Romania, Estonia and Greece were between 21 per cent and 25 per cent below the EU average.
Five member states recorded AIC per capita 25 per cent or more below the EU average.
Slovakia, Latvia, Hungary and Croatia were between 25 per cent and 35 per cent below, while Bulgaria had AIC per capita 39 per cent below the EU average.
(Photo: Lance Nelson of order.bg)
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