Trade union consumer basket 2.045 euros

According to research by the Center for Education, Information and Research of the Union of Free Trade Unions of Montenegro (USSCG), the trade union consumer basket for the fourth quarter of 2025 in Montenegro amounts to 2.045 euros, which is 195 euros more than the same period two years ago, when the first trade union consumer basket was published.

"Compared to the third quarter of 2025, there was a decrease in the costs of food products and education and culture costs, while increases were recorded in the category of housing and utilities costs, as well as personal hygiene and health care costs. There was a decrease in the costs of food products by 15 euros in nominal terms or 2,33 percent. Housing and utilities costs increased by five euros in nominal terms or 1,96 percent due to the increased heating season and a higher average electricity bill in the fourth quarter. The category of personal hygiene and health care costs was corrected by ten euros and now amounts to 145 euros, which is an increase of 7,41 percent," said Marko Subotić, economic policy advisor to the Union of Free Trade Unions.

The increase in costs in that category, he explained, was predominantly due to the increase in drug prices, Media Biro reports.

"The category of expenses for education and culture recorded a drastic decrease in costs by 30 euros. In the third quarter, there was an increase in the costs of this category by 30 euros because we had an increased need to equip students for school, in the fourth quarter we do not have that need, so this category returns to the original level of 105 euros, which it was in the second quarter of 2025. Overall, the union consumer basket for the fourth quarter is 30 euros smaller than the consumer basket for the third quarter," Subotić added.

Compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, the total union consumer basket for the fourth quarter of this year increased by 75 euros, or 3,81 percent in one year.

"The first union consumer basket was published in 2023 and amounted to 1.850 euros. There were changes in as many as seven categories of costs - food costs increased by 50 euros, imputed rent costs increased by 40 euros, current maintenance costs increased by ten euros, housing and utilities costs increased by 40 euros, personal hygiene and health care costs increased by 15 euros, education and culture costs increased by five euros, and summer vacation costs increased by 35 euros. If we compare the situation today and the situation two years ago, the amount of the union consumer basket increased by 195 euros or 10,54 percent," said Subotić.

Deputy Secretary General of the Union of Free Trade Unions, Ivana Mihajlović, reminded that according to data from the Statistical Office, the average net salary for October was 1.016 euros.

"To satisfy the union consumer basket, a little more than two average salaries in Montenegro are needed. According to official data from the Tax Administration, about 70 percent of employees receive an income up to the amount of the average salary, while about 105.000 employees receive an income of 800 euros, which is one of the two minimum salaries, namely the one for the sixth and higher levels of education. According to the latest census, there are almost 17.000 single parents in Montenegro whose children are under 25 years old, of which more than 11.000 are single mothers. The poverty rate is 20 percent, and if we exclude social transfers and pensions from income, then the poverty risk rate is 40,5 percent," Mihajlović reminded.

She addressed the question of how much data from the union consumer basket contributes to the creation of public policies and how much social partners and decision-makers take them into account when creating public policies and during collective bargaining.

"Public policies should aim to shape the lives of individuals and society as a whole. Given such a goal, in an ideal world, policymakers should take into account the interests of citizens and accordingly create appropriate policies that are tailored to the needs of people. In transitional societies, such as Montenegro's, these measures are usually created using ad hoc approaches and meant "putting out certain social fires", rather than systemic problem solving," said Mihajlović.

The Secretary General of the Union of Free Trade Unions, Srđan Keković, pointed out that the decision to present the union consumer basket arose from the desire to show that the consumer basket published by MONSTAT does not reflect the actual state of need.

"MONSTAT announced at the end of 2023 that it would no longer monitor the consumer basket, and then we panicked and started working on it so that we could continue to have a measure that would tell us how much money we need to have minimal dignified living conditions for a family of four in Montenegro. The consumer basket that MONSTAT last published in December amounted to around 830 euros. MONSTAT removed the so-called imputed rent - housing costs from that consumer basket. There is no citizen of Montenegro who does not have some housing costs, but that was removed from the consumer basket. So you had the impression then that for an average income of 800 euros you could fill the consumer basket of 830 euros that MONSTAT listed. We believe that the costs that MONSTAT published implied a state of dormancy or total hibernation for all four family members," said Keković.

The importance of including imputed rent in the consumer basket was pointed out by Jelena Mitrović, coordinator at the Center for Education, Information and Research.

"For us, this is a very important category of expenses because about ten percent of the population lives as tenants, and a large number of those have housing or other types of loans, so they are additionally burdened by that amount," said Mitrović.

Mitrović expressed special gratitude for the help in creating the union consumer basket to the Institute of Public Health, which helped them create a table of nutritional values ​​for the energy consumption of a four-member household.

Assistant Director of the Statistical Office, Snežana Remiković, supported the calculation of the union consumer basket and agreed that the aggregates between the union consumer basket and the minimum consumer basket produced by MONSTAT are indeed different.

"Behind both consumer baskets are completely different methodologies, so the minimum consumer basket, despite all the criticism we have heard, was a specific product of a methodology that existed as a specific standard in the absence of an international standard. The standard that was developed for the minimum consumer basket referred to the minimum nutrition and calories needed to meet the minimum energy needs for performing light physical activities," explained Remiković.