All about Bulgaria » Cost of life
bulgarian cost of life
The Mercer Human Resource Cost of Living Survey 2004 ranks all major European cities based on their cost of living. According to their research London is the most expensive city in Europe, with a score of 119. High accommodation and transport costs together with the appreciation of the pound against the US dollar have pushed the city up in the rankings. After London, Geneva is the next most expensive city in Europe ranked in 6th position (106.2) followed by Copenhagen in 8th place (102.2). Other high scoring cities include Zurich ranked 9th (101.6), Milan ranked 13th (98.7), Dublin in 14th place (96.9), Oslo in 15th place (96.2) and Paris in 17th position (94.8).
At the other extreme, Bulgaria is one of the cheapest countries ranking in 79th place (75.4). It ranks as cheaper than the other neighboring European countries and countries recently admitted to the EU -Greece, Croatia, Poland, Czech Republic.
The cost of living in Bulgaria is substantially lower than in other countries and amongst the lowest world-wide. In particular eating and drinking is very inexpensive with a three course meal costing an average of 5-7 Euro, a bottle of beer for less than 1 Euro and a good Bulgarian wine costing around 5 Euro a bottle.
These are some of the other living cost numbers in Bulgaria using as an example a 2 bedroom apartment in a city:
» Home insurance - 100 - 200 Euro per year
» Electric bill (where electricity used for heating) - 120 Euro per month
» Average property taxes - 100 Euro per year
» Fuel prices: petrol: 0.80 € Euro/L, LPG: only 0.40 Euro/L.
» Annual theft and accident insurance for a brand new car is around 800-1000 € Euro.
» Bulgaria has the cheapest new cars in Europe. For example the new Renault Clio costs only 6,500 € EURO. To employ a full-time gardener or maintenance man to work on your property would be less than 200 Euro a month.