site.btaTrade Union Sets Four-Member Household's Cost of Living at Lv 2,235 for September

Trade Union Sets Four-Member Household's Cost of Living at Lv 2,235 for September

Sofia, October 26 (BTA) - The monthly cost of living of a family of four with two dependent children in Bulgaria stood at 2,235 leva in September 2016, according to the Institute for Social and Trade Union Research with the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB).

This sum covers the cost for food, household, healthcare, transport and recreation.

The average per capita cost of living is 558.82 leva.

Quarter-on-quarter, the cost of living has edged up by 0.4 per cent, but has edged down by 0.4 per cent, year-on-year.

About 78.5 per cent of households in Bulgaria live on per capita income below the cost of living.

A comparative analysis of the financial resources needed to cover the cost of living and the distribution of households by total income groups, as reported by national statistics for the second quarter of 2016, shows that 30.5 per cent of households, or nearly 2.2 million people, have per capita incomes below the poverty line (297 leva). The number of people living below the absolute poverty line is declining (by 57,000), but the pace is slow.

Households with monthly per capita income of 297 to 559 leva account for 48 per cent of the total (3.462 million people). Households with monthly per capita income above the cost of living (559 leva) represent 21.5 per cent of the total or about 1.6 million people.