“Prices for goods and services in Romania are at about 60% of the EU average, but the salaries are 4 times smaller†– states the title of the Romanian newspaper “Ziarul Financiarâ€
The prices of goods and services in Romania are at about 60% of the EU average, but the Romanians find themselves paying far over the average for electronics, and for things such as clothing, public transport, cars, bikes and bicycles they pay about the same as the EU average.
In the EU, only Bulgaria has a slightly lower level of pricing, at around 51% of the EU average, followed with 60% by Romania and Poland and 64% by Hungary. The highest prices are registered in Denmark with 142%, followed by Sweden with 128% and Finland with 125%, according to the data released by Eurostat, based on prices form 2011.
Prices in Romania have risen from 59% of the EU average in 2010 to 60% in 2011. In 2008, Romanian prices reached 62% of the EU average.
Prices for electronics in Romania represent 105% of the EU average, just as in Finland and over Belgium (104%), France (101%), Germany and Holland (99%) or Great Britain (95%). Only 8 states have higher prices.
Romania finds itself on the same level as Portugal and Lithuania regarding prices for clothing, but over Ireland (92%), Poland (89%), Spain (88%) or Hungary (85%). The smallest prices are recorded in Bulgaria (75%) and the highest in Sweden (133%).
Prices in Romania regarding “cars, bikes and bicycles†are situated at about 88% of the EU average, among the lowest in the European Union. Except Denmark, with a staggering 167% of the EU average, prices for “cars, bikes and bicycles†have a smaller variation inside the European Union, 83% in Bulgaria and 122% in Portugal.
The lowest prices in Romania in comparison with the rest of the EU are the prices for food and soft drinks (68%), alcohol and tobacco (66%) and the prices for hotels and restaurants (50%). The prices for non-alcoholic beverages in Romania are among the lowest in the EU, only Bulgaria has lower prices.
Tariffs for hotels and restaurants vary as well, from 45% of the EU average in Bulgaria to 154% in Denmark. In Romania prices for hotels and restaurants are at about 50% of the EU average.
Romania’s GDP per capita in 2011 represented 49% of the EU average, with 3 points more than in 2010, while other countries had more modest growths.
Romania and Bulgaria are still the poorest countries in the European Union when it comes to economic production.
