Study: Average Romanian spends EUR 171 per month on food

An average Romanian spends EUR 171 per month on food, which places Romania 55th out of 105 countries analyzed by the Picodi portal based on expenditures on food products.

Picodi.com checked statistical data from 105 countries and calculated how much money people spend on shopping worldwide. The collected data shows that depending on the country, expenditures on food products can vary greatly. Food and non-alcoholic beverages account for 25.2% of expenditures on goods and services in Romania, at a level similar to Tunisia (24.2%), Mexico (26.2%), and Turkey (27.3%), according to the analysis.

According to statistics compiled by Romania’s National Institute for Statistics (INS), food and non-alcoholic beverages, worth RON 1,301 (EUR 263) per household, accounted for 35.1% of household expenditures in the first quarter.

According to Picodi cited by Economedia.ro, the lowest percentages of household spending go toward food in countries like the USA (6.7%), Singapore (8.4%), the UK (8.7%), Ireland (9.2%), and Switzerland (9.9%). Among the countries included in the ranking, the highest percentage of expenditures on food is found in Nigeria, Myanmar, and Kenya, with 59%, 56.6%, and 56.1% respectively.

The highest shopping expenditures in Europe are recorded in Switzerland (EUR 325 per month), followed by Norway (EUR 308), and Denmark (EUR 281), which can be explained by the generally high prices in these countries.

An average Romanian spends EUR 171 per month on food. The lowest expenses on food products are found in Ukraine (EUR 98), Belarus (EUR 89), and Moldova (EUR 88).

The authors of the report specify that for this analysis, they used the latest statistics on household consumption of food and non-alcoholic beverages from Euromonitor and official government websites.

According to the National Institute of Statistics of Romania, the average total monthly income in nominal terms was RON 6979 per household in the first quarter of 2023, meaning RON 2797 (EUR 566) per person, an increase of 5.2% and 5.6%, respectively, compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. Compared to the first quarter of the previous year, the average total monthly income per household increased by 12.1%, and per person by 13.0%.

According to the standard classification of consumption expenditures (COICOP), food and non-alcoholic beverages worth RON 1301 per household accounted for a significant share of total household consumption expenditures (35.1%). These are followed by expenditures for housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels worth RON 682 per household, with a share in average monthly total consumption expenditures of 18.4%, and expenditures for alcoholic beverages and tobacco worth RON 271 per household, with a share in average monthly total consumption expenditures of 7.3%.