For 2011 are presented main results of the price surveys covering about 2044 consumer goods and services across 37 European countries. These surveys are part of the Eurostat/OECD program “Purchasing Power parities”, in which NSI of Bulgaria participates since 1993.
Results for all 37 countries (27 EU member states; 3 EFTA countries; acceding state Croatia; 4 candidate countries and 2 potential candidate countries) are expressed in price level indices (PLIs), which provide comparison of countries’ price levels with respect to the European Union average (EU27=100).
Switzerland and Northern European countries have the highest prices, while South-Eastern European countries have the lowest prices.
The most expensive country for all product groups, except for clothing, is Norway. The cheapest food, beverages and tobacco, as well as household appliances, restaurants and hotels are seen in FYR of Macedonia, while clothing and footwear are cheapest in Turkey. Electricity, gas and other fuels as well as the communication have the lowest price level in Serbia; the furniture, furnishings, carpets and other floor coverings and personal transport equipment have lowest price level in Bulgaria, the consumers electronics – in Poland.
Comparative price level indices of consumer goods and services, 2011 (EU27=100)
Source: Eurostat, Statistics in Focus 26/2012
In 2011 price levels of consumer goods and services deviate significantly within the European Union also. The highest price level is observed in Denmark (142%) compared to EU average, followed by Sweden (128%), Finland (125%) and Luxembourg (122%). Almost 50% below the EU27 average is the consumer price level in Bulgaria (51%).
The variation coefficient among all 37 European countries is quite high (32.5%). For the group of alcoholic beverages and tobacco this coefficient goes up to 40.3% while it is the lowest for consumer electronics (10.3%).
Within the EU27 consumer prices show 25% variation. The greatest price variation is observed for restaurants and hotels (29.6%) and for transport services (29.1%) as well. The lowest price variation among EU member states is estimated again for the group of consumer electronics (7.6%).
1 The overall price levels included in this News Release relate to the concept of household final consumption expenditure (HFCE), which consists of all expenditure incurred by households on goods and services for consumption, including also rents for housing. HFCE does not include expenditure on goods or services that are consumed by households but incurred by government or non-profit institutions, for instance, government education services or healthcare.
