EU household spending trends show high food costs in Bulgaria and Serbia

Eurostat data reveals that food, housing, and transport constitute approximately 46% of total household expenditure across the European Union. In many regions, these essential categories are seeing significant price increases.

In Bulgaria, the impact is particularly pronounced. Data indicates that Bulgarian households allocate roughly 22.3% of their budget to food and non-alcoholic beverages, significantly higher than the EU average of 16.3%. Other major expenses in Bulgaria include transport (14.3%) and housing, water, and energy (9.9%).

Similarly, in Serbia, the combined share of food, housing, and transport in household consumption reaches 61.7%, which is over 15 percentage points higher than the EU average. Specifically, Serbian households spend 36.6% of their personal consumption on food and beverages, more than double the EU average. While transport costs are lower in Serbia than in the EU, spending on restaurants, hotels, recreation, and culture also remains notably lower than the European average.