2024-07-09 18:57:13
Ž. Mauricas calculates that during this period the prices of food products increased by 48 percent, the prices of alcohol increased by 29 percent, and the prices of tobacco – by 30 percent.
“Even more interesting is the fact that over the past 4 years, vodka has become more expensive (21%) even less than water (22%), and the affordability of vodka in Lithuania has reached an all-time high, i.e. for one average monthly salary (1,333 euros) in Lithuania at the moment you can buy as many as 138 half-liter bottles of vodka (costing 9.63 euros) – this is twice as much as in 2010 and three times as much as in 2002,” emphasizes the economist.
As he explains, this resulted in 2021-2023. a spike in inflation that has driven food prices up sharply. However, excise duties were not increased so rapidly.
“For example, the excise duty on vodka increased by only 22% in the last 4 years, and by 33% on beer and wine. Since the excise duty is a significant part of the price of alcoholic beverages, the overall growth of alcohol prices has become slower than that of many other food products, e.g. milk rose in price by 66 percent, and vodka by just 21 percent.
However, the halted growth of food prices and the raising of excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco should bring everything back to normal in the near future”, assured Ž. Mauricas.
2024-07-09 18:57:13