Living standards only worse in two other EU countries than in Hungary

The latest Eurostat survey containing data from 2018 reveals that there are only two EU member states where the quality of life is worse than in Hungary. Only Croatia’s and Bulgaria’s population consume less than Hungarian people.

Last year, there were ten EU member states where people could afford to spend more on everyday expenditures than the EU average, reports Qubit. In Luxemburg, purchasing power is 32 times stronger than the EU average, while in Austria and Germany, it is about 20 times stronger. People can also by about 5-15% more than the average in the following countries: Denmark, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Belgium, and France.

Purchasing power, the amount of goods and services one unit of money can buy, is the most trustworthy indicator of households’ material wealth.

In Hungary and Croatia, people could spend less than two-thirds of the EU average on everyday expenditures, while Bulgarians could spend a little above half the EU average.

There are three other countries in the European Union where the population has less than three-quarters of the EU average to spend on everyday purchases: Estonia, Lithuania, and Romania are all below the goal of the 75% purchasing power.

However, we cannot say that Hungarians would be more conscious consumers, or that they do not buy as many luxury items as people in Western countries do.

Considering the indicator of individual consumption increasingly contains the services (e.g. education or healthcare) which may have vast differences in cost from country to country, the majority of experts find it to be the best at showing the everyday purchasing power of households.