Prices in Montenegro in 2023 for two thousand products and services were at the level of 64 percent of the average prices of the same products and services in the European Union, while at the same time the standard of citizens of Montenegro, i.e. their purchasing power, was at the level of 52 percent of the EU average, this is stated in new Eurostat data published by Monstat.
Eurostat calculates these data for 27 members of the European Union, and compares them with six other candidate countries for membership, and for three European countries that are not members - Switzerland, Iceland and Norway.
According to the same research from the pre-crisis year of 2019, prices in Montenegro were then at 57% of the average price in the EU, while the standard of citizens was at 50% of the EU average. This shows that for these four years, Montenegro had a more significant increase in prices than in the standard of citizens.
The average salary in 2023 in Montenegro amounted to 792 euros and was 53 percent higher than the average from 2019 of 515 euros, but this growth had the effect that the standard of citizens compared to the EU increased by only two percentage points.
This percentage, that the prices in Montenegro are at the level of 64 percent of the prices in the EU, was obtained on the basis of a very large group of two thousand products and services. However, when considering the two most important groups, on which households spend the most money, such as food and clothing, their prices are very close to the European average.
Food a little cheaper than in the EU, clothes the same price
Thus, the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages are at the level of 87 percent of the average price of those products in the EU, while the prices of clothing are at the level of 99 percent of the price of that product in the EU. Low electricity prices in Montenegro play a significant role in lowering the average price to 64 percent, because according to Eurostat data, a kilowatt with tax and all items is 10 cents per kilowatt hour, while the average at the EU level is 28 cents per kilowatt hour.
Citizens of Luxembourg have the highest standard in the European Union, and in general of all European countries, and it is 139 percent higher than the EU average. At the same time, prices in Luxembourg are 35 percent higher than the EU average.
Food prices in Luxembourg are 19 percent higher than the EU average, and about 35 percent higher than in Montenegro. The average net salary in Luxembourg at the beginning of this year was three and a half thousand euros, that is, it is 320 percent higher than in Montenegro, where it was worth 820 euros. At the same time, clothing prices in Luxembourg are eight percent higher than in Montenegro.
After Luxembourg, the purchasing power of citizens is followed by Ireland, where this parameter is 111 percent higher than the EU average, then Norway with a difference of 73 percent, Switzerland, where the standard is 54 percent higher than the EU average, Iceland, where it is higher by 34 percent, The Netherlands with 30 percent, Denmark with 27 percent,...
Switzerland has the highest prices on the European continent and they are 74 percent higher than the EU average, followed by Iceland where they are higher by 56 percent, Denmark with a difference of 43 percent, Ireland with 42 percent,...
Five countries have a lower percentage share of prices in the EU average than Montenegro - Romania and Bulgaria with prices at the level of 60 percent of the EU average, Bosnia and Herzegovina with 58 percent, North Macedonia with 52 and Turkey where prices are at the level of 42 percent of prices in the EU.
Turkey has been the best at fighting inflation
It is interesting that the prices in Turkey in 2019 were at the level of 47 percent of the EU average, and that this parameter fell to 42 percent last year. This shows that this country had a good anti-inflationary policy during the past four crisis years. Turkey's purchasing power is at 73 percent of the EU average.
Four European countries have a lower level of purchasing power than Montenegro and they are all from the region. Citizens of Serbia have purchasing power at the level of 46 percent of the EU average, North Macedonia at 41 percent, while residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania each have 35 percent of the purchasing power of the average resident of the European Union.
The same four countries were behind Montenegro in terms of purchasing power in 2019, but this difference is decreasing. For this period, the purchasing power of citizens of Montenegro increased by two percentage points, and that of Serbia from 41 to 46, that of North Macedonia from 38 to 41, that of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 32 to 35, and that of Albania from 31 to 35 percent.
The ratio of wages and prices in Montenegro and the EU
Food prices in Germany, the largest European economy, are six percent higher than the European average, and 20 percent higher than in Montenegro, while clothing prices in this country are at the same level as here.
The average net salary in Germany is 2.410 euros, that is, it is three times higher than in Montenegro.
In Sweden, food is 18 percent more expensive than in Montenegro, and clothes are 13 percent more expensive. The net salary in Sweden is 2.370 euros.
In the Netherlands, food prices are ten percent more expensive than in Montenegro, and clothes are eight percent more expensive. The average net salary in this country is around 2.900 euros.
In Austria, food is 20 percent more expensive than in Montenegro, and clothes are 2.800 percent more expensive. In this country, the average net salary is around XNUMX euros.
In Croatia, food is 15 percent more expensive, and clothes are 1.323 percent more expensive. The average net salary in this neighboring country is 61 euros, i.e. it is XNUMX percent higher than in Montenegro.
Clothes are cheaper in the eight member states of the European Union, compared to Montenegro.
Montenegrin wages are worth more than Germany in kilowatts alone
Only four countries on the European continent have lower electricity prices than Montenegro for the household category, namely Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey and Kosovo.
According to Eurostat data, a kilowatt hour in Montenegro, including all taxes, at the end of last year cost 9,7 cents, in Georgia it was 8,6 cents, in Bosnia and Herzegovina 8,5 cents, in Kosovo 7,5 cents, and in Turkey was by far the cheapest and cost 5,6 cents.
Households in Germany have the most expensive electricity prices, where a kilowatt hour cost 40 cents, followed by Ireland and Belgium with 38 cents each, Denmark and Liechtenstein with 36 cents each, Cyprus with 35, Italy with 34 cents,...
In Germany, for an average salary of 2.410 euros, despite the highest price of electricity, I can buy six thousand kilowatt hours. In Montenegro, for a salary of 820 euros, you can buy eight and a half thousand kilowatt hours at these prices.
In the country with the highest standard, Luxembourg, the price of a kilowatt hour costs 20 cents, so for an average income of three and a half thousand euros, I can buy 17,5 thousand kilowatt hours.
Bonus video:
