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Expensive holidays, 10,000 Lek today buys 20-25% less than a year ago

2023-12-30 09:11:00, Ekonomi CNA

Expensive holidays, 10,000 Lek today buys 20-25% less than a year ago

Illustrative photo

The end of the year marks a time when grocery shopping becomes essential for many families. Their main focus is the price, which is constantly increasing year after year.

An observation by Monitor on the market shows that with a certain amount of money today you can buy fewer products.

In a comparison with last year, when 10,000 ALL could buy a wider range of products, now this amount has made a noticeable difference.

If last year we could buy 23 basic basket products with an amount of 10 thousand lek, now this amount has decreased significantly.

With the same amount, only 17 of the same products can be bought in December 2023, including a narrower range of food items.

In this situation, a significant number of products has been reduced, making the basket weaker compared to last year.

In addition to reducing the number of products in the basket, an important factor is increasing the total value of the basket.

When before 10 thousand ALL could cover the cost of 23 basic products, now for the same products, the total amount has reached 12.3 thousand ALL. This increase in amount is a clear sign of rising prices, adding to the challenges and constraints for the everyday consumer.

Surveys in the market show that prices have increased by about 20-25% compared to a year ago, which means that 10,000 Leksh today is worth 20-25% less.

More detailed data shows that the largest price increases occurred for olive oil, chicken meat, potato, egg and laundry detergent, ranging from 39-61% (see table).

This market behavior has brought new challenges to consumers, forcing them to limit their spending and look for more economical alternatives.

The tightening of prices has greatly affected the purchase of families. Family members point out that the price increase affects not only one product, but includes their entire basket.

Luljeta Dermyshi says that the shopping for her family of four has grown so much that she had to give up other expenses to cover the purchase of basic food.

"They have really increased a lot, if before I used to shop for 10,000 Lek a week, now that 10,000 Lek is only for three or four days.

We buy bread from 90 ALL to 110 ALL, or flour from 90 ALL to 115 ALL. These are the basic things. We are not talking about olive oil, which has almost doubled to 800 lek and above per kg," she says.

Matilda, another family in Tirana with 7 family members, says that for her, the prices have become unaffordable.

We have had to cut down the list of things we used to buy, wages have not increased much but prices have. As a big family, we can't afford to buy things that are already considered luxuries, even though they are necessary.

We are not buying chocolate cream for the children, which cost 700 Lek for just one jar. This is not very necessary, but pasta, rice, sugar and many other products are, and they have grown too much. It's just that they have grown so much, we are not making baklava this year, because only the butter has gone to 1200 lek a kg - says Matilda

In general, it has become common for prices to increase every year-end, especially for New Year's table products such as turkey, wine and soft drinks.

Soft drinks have increased by about 17%, while for wine and turkey, their prices have increased by about 10% and 20%, respectively. The price of turkey and chicken has come as a result of high expenses for farmers for their breeding.

Pensioners, who are most affected by the increase in prices, received a bonus of 5 thousand ALL for the end of the year holidays. However, this amount cannot cover most of the needs for basic food products.

"We don't even have 5,000 new lek for food, for anything. Do they last 3 days with these prices that have increased" - says Agimi, a pensioner in Tirana.

Flutura, another pensioner who is shopping with the bonus received, tells us that this money will not be enough to buy the food for the year's change table.
"With the bonus I received, I will not buy anything for the New Year's table, I will spend it like every day making a small dish for myself and my husband. It's not long since I received the reward and I'm buying the food for the month, but it doesn't come out much with these prices that have increased, the potato has gone for more than 100 kg, the carrot from 100 lek has gone for 140. We choose a little to complete the dish for meat or anything else we don't get much. "

Citizens say that prices have increased a lot, especially dairy, as mentioned above, butter has gone up to 1,200 lek from 950 before.

Milk, one of the basic products, has increased by more than 30 ALL, or by 20%. White cheese, another dairy product, reached 650 from the previous 560, a 16% increase.

The egg has also marked one of the biggest increases in price by 39%, now 10 eggs are being bought for 70 lek more than in December 2022.

In addition to food, detergents and detergents, which are some of the most important products in the consumer's budget, have increased.

A washing machine today costs 61% more than last year, reaching the value of 1400 Lek from 870 before.
Hair shampoo has become more expensive by 75 lek, to the value of 500 lek. Basic household hygiene soap has reached the value of 170 Lek.

Food burdens more in Albania than anywhere else due to the high weight they occupy in the budget of a family, with about 41% of the total, from 13% which is the European average and below 40% for other countries of the region, according to Eurostat data./ Monitor