With the unstoppable rise in prices, every Albanian family must spend more of their income (which is not rising as fast as prices, or not rising at all), to buy the same products.

According to the national statistics institute INSTAT, inflation, which measures the change in prices of a certain basket of goods, was 7.4 percent in June, the highest level in 20 years.

A year ago, in the same period, the increase in prices was a minimal 1.6 percent.

Apart from entertainment and culture, every product and service was more expensive this June.

The heaviest budget is to feed for two reasons.

- First, because of the high weight of expenses for food.

About 42 percent of the total expenses of an Albanian family go to food and non-alcoholic beverages, a percentage that is the highest in the region and in Europe, according to Eurostat data, referring to 2019 and INSTAT for Albania.

After Albania, the highest percentage of spending on food and non-alcoholic beverages is in North Macedonia, with 30.6%, followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina (29.5%), Montenegro (24.5%), Serbia (23.6%). - the data for Kosovo are missing.

For the European Union-27, this weight is 13 percent.

As a result, Albanian families have to spend more money to feed themselves than others in the European region, leaving less for other, non-essential needs.

As a result, an increase in food prices weighs more on the budgets of Albanian families.

-Secondly, food and non-alcoholic beverages have recorded the second highest growth, with 12.6 percent after transport (26.9 percent).

But, due to the higher weight they occupy in the budget, in relation to transport (6.2 percent), the increase in the price of food weighs more heavily.

According to INSTAT, the highest increase was recorded by "Oils and fats", with 30.3 percent;

"Bread and cereals", with 19.1 percent;

"Milk, cheese and eggs", with 18.5 percent;

"Vegetables including potatoes", with 9 percent.

30 million euros more just for food

An average family with 3.6 people spent about 84 thousand ALL per month, according to the INSTAT Family Budget Survey, the latest data of which refer to the year 2020.

About 42% of this amount, or about 35 thousand ALL, is needed by a family to meet the basic needs for food.

With the increase of 12.6%, for the same amount of food, a family has to spend almost 50,000 ALL, or almost 5,000 ALL more.

For 769,000 families in the country, the additional expenditure on food is about 37-38 billion ALL, just for the month of June, or about 30 million euros, which have come out of family budgets to meet this necessary need.

Meanwhile, incomes have not increased at the same rates as prices.

According to INSTAT, the average gross monthly salary for a salaried employee, during the first quarter of 2022 (last available data), is ALL 59,242.

Compared to the same period a year ago, the salary has increased by 5.8%.

The World Bank has warned that high prices will reverse achievements in reducing poverty.

The Bank has signaled that rising inflation could significantly reduce real income growth among poor and vulnerable households and hold back poverty alleviation.

Past experiences show that economic growth in the Balkans, and especially in Albania, has not translated into a reduction in poverty.

/Monitor/