Romanians earn salaries as much as eight times lower than many Europeans, yet when we talk about food prices, this country is not lagging too much behind other Union members.
A Romanian living on average wage can afford buying only ONE Food Basket a month, whereas the Europeran average is no less than ten such baskets.
Consumer prices in this country, same as the ones in Bulgaria, Poland and Hungary, are almost half the EU average price index across 28 states, according to Eurostat data. At the opposite end of the scale are the northern countries, Sweden and Denmark, where prices are up to 40 percent higher than the EU average.
Prices in Romania are more often than not in line with EU ones. At foodstuffs for instance, prices are only 30 to 40 percent lower than the EU average.
In 2014, the wages of Romanian employees accounted for only 31 percent of GDP, while the EU average in this case was 48 percent of GDP.
This situation could be explained by the jobs lost after 2008, the steep pay cuts, or the replacement of "expensive" employees with "cheap" though inexperienced staff.