Costs of living in BiH are growing every year. According to the Agency for Statistics of BiH, prices of products and services that are used in BiH for personal consumption and measured by the index of consumer prices were increased in March this year in comparison to February by 0.1 %.
Prices of clothing and footwear were increased by 3.2 %, healthcare by 0.1 %, transportation by 0.2 %, education by 0.1 % and services in restaurants and hotels by 0.2 %. Despite the decrease in prices of food and beverages in March compared to the month of February by 0.1 %, food prices were increased by 0.3 % when compared with the same period last year.
The price level in March 2017 in comparison to the same month last year was increased by 1.4 %. In comparison to March last year, the biggest increase this year were prices of transportation by 9 %, as well as alcoholic beverages and tobacco by 4.2 %, while prices of renting and living were increased by 1.7 %.
The price of the consumer basket for a four-member family is higher than 1,800 BAM, according to the latest official data from the Trade Union of BiH, and minimum salaries amount to 410 BAM in FBiH and 395 BAM in the RS. Four-member families are barely making a living, they cut costs and borrow in order to survive from first to first every month.
Thus, a four-member family needs to have just 60 BAM for bread on a monthly basis, while for the full basket that would satisfy all of their monthly needs, they need to allocate a minimum of 450 BAM for just bread, rice, pasta, meat, eggs, and oil. As you can see, this amount is much higher than the minimum salary in both entities. Products for personal hygiene are not included.
When it comes to utilities (electricity, water, gas/heating), citizens need a minimum of 160 BAM during the summer (referring to a minimum consumption of electricity and water) for an apartment of 40 square meters, and the price is a lot higher during the winter due to heating.
There is also the RTV subscription in the amount of 7.5 BAM, then tickets for urban transport that cost 1.4 BAM on average (when we take entire BiH into account), and, if citizens have small children, the costs for kindergarten are 173 BAM or 40 BAM for schooling ( the cost of purchasing books and other things not included).
A four-member family needs more than 2,100 BAM for everything they need, including full consumer basket and everything else.
When it comes to our neighbors, the situation is quite similar. The average salary in Croatia amounts to 1,503 BAM, while the consumer basket amounts to 1,885 BAM. However, the four-member family needs a minimum of 2,400 BAM for costs of monthly living.
The average salary in Serbia amounts to 740 BAM, while the consumer basket for a three-member family amounts to 1,066 BAM. A three-member family needs around 1,400 BAM for all monthly expenses.
The average salary in Montenegro amounts to 967 BAM, while the consumer basket for a four-member family amounts to 1.585 BAM. For basic necessities of a family of four is needed a minimum of 1,900 BAM per month.
(Source: M. N./Klix.ba)
