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Albania
Standard of Living
In the late 1980s, the average pay for an Albanian worker was
about US$89 to US$104 monthly at the official exchange rate of
US$1 to L6.75. The government supplemented low incomes by annually
allocating about 25 percent of the annual budget, about L4,000
(US$595) for each family, to the population's cultural and social
needs, including everything from price subsidies for necessities
like children's clothing to library construction. The state provided
free education and health care and absorbed 65 percent of tuition
for day care and kindergarten and 18 to 35 percent of the cost
of meals in worker cafeterias.
Under the communist regime, the cost of living for the average
Albanian was generally low. Food was generally inexpensive but
in chronically short supply. The Albanians' staple diet consisted
of bread, sugar, pasta, and rice, which were sold at or near cost.
Production shortfalls limited supplies of meat, dairy products,
and other protein-rich foods. Albanians enjoyed increasing supplies
of clothing in the late 1980s, but price, quality, and style left
much to be desired. The state subsidized the prices of children's
clothing and shoes, but a man's shirt could cost about L200 (US$30),
a suit L675 (US$100), and a woman's sweater L150 (US$22). A farmer
had to work about two weeks to buy a pair of the most inexpensive
shoes. Durable goods carried exorbitant price tags. A bicycle
sold for about L900 (US$134); a motorbike, L2,700 (US$402); a
radio set, L1,000 (US$149); a television, L4,000 (US$595). The
ever-vigilant state required that purchasers of televisions and
refrigerators obtain permits. Housing rents were low, usually
amounting to between 1 percent and 3 percent of an average family's
income. In 1980, for example, the monthly rent for an apartment
in Lezhë came to L40 (US$7.50). Public transportation also cost
little.
Officials estimated that the standard of living for town dwellers
with average monthly incomes dropped by about half in 1991. Government
statistics showed that a typical family with an average monthly
income of L1,300 in December 1990 would need more than L4,500
to keep up with inflation over the same period. In 1991 a kilogram
of spinach sold for L60 at Tiranë's produce market; oranges cost
L200 per half kilogram; and a bottle of orange drink, L600. Per
capita annual meat consumption in cities totaled about 11.7 kilograms
in 1990, down from about 14.6 kilograms in 1975; rural meat consumption
in 1990 was about 9.0 kilograms per capita, actually an improvement
from 7.3 kilograms per capita in 1975. Furniture prices give some
indication of how personal incomes failed to maintain pace with
prices in 1991. In one Tiranë store, a table cost L60,000; a bed,
L130,000; a door, L150,000.
Data as of April 1992
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