Compared to the costs of living in other EU countries, in Romania food prices are the lowest but the effort of buyers is sometimes 50% higher in Romania than the EU. In an attempt to improve the well being of citizens across the country, authorities plan to allocate 100 million lei to create special lanes for bicycles. Elsewhere in the news, two Romanians were part of a team of doctors to discover a marker for 11 types of cancer.
Romania libera compares on Friday the costs of living in Romania vs those in the EU. The conclusions are that even if in Romania prices for food products are 50% lower than the EU, the effort of buyers for some products is even 50% than the EU. Romanians consume one of the cheapest food products in the EU but the purchasing power reveals the price difference between the countries.
The purchase power index is an average that counts prices in both big cities and rural areas. Thus, it is possible that the costs of living in big cities are comparable to the EU average, and the only difference is the revenue.
According to Eurostat data, bread in Romania represented 61% of the EU average but in Poland was 58% of the EU 27 average while in Bulgaria 52%. Meat represented 58% of the average, the same level as Bulgaria. The maximum price was registered in Norway with 62%.
Romanians are still lucky that the public administration offers subsidies for heat because production in Romania is the most expensive in the EU. According to a study, Romania's production costs are higher than in Finland.
Romanians enjoy cheap gas prices, but there are still countries that pay lower like Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Cyprus and Malta. The most expensive gas is found in Great Britain and Sweden, Greece and Netherlands.
In an attempt to improve life for Romanians, Environment ministry plans to a