Union consumer basket for September amounts to 2,993.50 KM

(Patria) - The union consumer basket calculated by the Union of Independent Trade Unions of Bosnia and Herzegovina for September 2023 amounts to 2,993.50 KM.

The average salary paid in the Federation of BiH for July 2023 was 1,257.00 KM (the latest data published by the Federal Institute of Statistics).

The minimum salary according to the Decision of the Government of FBiH is 596.00 KM. The coverage of the union consumer basket by the average salary is 41.99%. The coverage of the union consumer basket by the minimum salary is 19.91%.

The decrease in the union consumer basket compared to the previous month occurred solely due to reduced costs in the education and culture category (costs of purchasing textbooks and school supplies were partly included in the calculation for August).

When compiling the union consumer basket, the average salary paid in the Federation of BiH was taken into account, as well as the minimum living costs of a four-member family consisting of two adults and two children, one of whom is in secondary school and the other in primary school age.

The consumer basket itself consists of the following categories (next to the name is the percentage share of each category in the union consumer basket):
- food – 41.37%;
- housing and utilities – 13.18%;
- hygiene and health maintenance – 9.11%;
- education and culture – 11.69%;
- clothing and footwear – 13.36%;
- transport – 4.61%;
- household maintenance – 6.68%.

In the food category, prices from 3 shopping centers for 86 items were used. Regarding hygiene and health maintenance, costs for ten items were included, and for housing and utilities, costs for six items.