Albanians spend money to feed, Europeans to have fun

According to INSTAT's data, in 2019 about 41.1% of the expenses went for food. This weight is the highest in the region and Europe and is a direct indicator of lower income and relatively high prices. Kosovo spends 34% on food, North Macedonia 33%, Bosnia 29%, Montenegro 23.5, Serbia 23.6%, according to Eurostat.

Eurostat has recently released new information on the cost structure for family members for 2019.

Unlike the region, European families spend less to feed. For 2019 this weight is 13%, although rising by 1 percentage point compared to the previous year. The European state that spends the most on food is Romania (26%) and less the United Kingdom (only 8%).

European families have the largest budget for “Expenses for residence, water, electricity, paid rent”, with 23.5% of the total, against 10.1% in Albania.

By spending less on food, families in Europe have more income to enjoy and travel. Europeans spend more on entertainment and culture, with 8.7% of total, against 3.8% in Albania, even on transport to Europe spent 13% of the budget, while Albania spends less than 6%. Even for restaurants, the report is 8.7% for Europe and 4.9% for Albania.

But if there is an expense for which Albanians are not spared are clothes, with 5.2% of the total, against 4.6% of the European average. The state that spends the most on clothing in Europe is Romania (6.8%) of the total, followed by Estonia (6.3%), Italy (5.9%), and less Iceland (3.3%).

For health, expenditures are almost similar (4.3% and 4.4%), while a year ago it was Albanians who spent more on health, but in 2019, this category has increased for Europeans as well.

Education costs Albanians much more than Europeans. A family needs to spend 3.1% of the total to educate children, while for a European family, this burden is less than 1% (0.9%).

Even for communication, Albanians spend more (3.7%, against 2.4%). /Monitor/.