Ukrainians spend almost 42% of the money they earn on food – these are the results shown by a new study. Experts say: a full-scale war has significantly worsened the situation, so in fact, the amount of citizens' expenses on food is even greater. Focus found out how much Europeans spend and how much Ukrainians spend to feed themselves and their families.
The share of food expenditures in total consumer expenditures of the population is a very interesting indicator that allows us to draw certain conclusions regarding the wealth of the country and its citizens. It's simple: the more people spend on food, the less financial opportunity they have for travel, cultural events, and self-development. And, it is clear that when a person can barely make ends meet, he does not have the mood and moral strength to have fun.
In Ukraine, the share of food expenses has fluctuated around 50% for many years, that is, we eat every second hryvnia of our own monthly budget. And this is a very negative result, because, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), if food costs are 60% or more, this means that there is famine in the country.
Optimistic results: how much Ukrainians actually spend on food
In search of an answer to the question of how much money residents of different regions of the world spend on food, Picodi analysts compared statistical data for 105 countries. It turned out that while in some countries only a few percent of the total amount of all consumer spending is spent on food, in others it is more than half. The top five countries where citizens spend less than 10% on food include the USA (6.7%), Singapore (8.4%), Great Britain (8.7%), Ireland (9.2%) and Switzerland (9. 9%). However, there is an important point here: the study is about buying food at home - for your own preparation, therefore, in those countries that are in first place, citizens often prefer catering establishments.
Ukraine is in 93rd place in this ranking: according to analytics, food and non-alcoholic drinks in the country account for 41.6% of all consumer spending. As can be seen from the infographics, Ethiopia (41.3%) and Cambodia (42.7%) became Ukraine's neighbors. And the outsiders were Nigeria (59%), Myanmar (56.6%), Kenya (56.1%), Bangladesh (52.7%) and Laos (50.6%).
“I’ll say right away that 42% is pre-war data. According to our calculations, the share of food expenses in Ukraine now exceeds 50%. At the same time, in European households, according to Eurostat, these figures are 12-18%,” Oleg Pendzin, executive director of the Economic Discussion Club, told Focus.
This serious difference is explained by the fact that the income level of Ukrainians and Europeans is significantly different. For example, the average pension in the Czech Republic is approximately 600 euros, in Poland - 635 euros, and in Estonia - 700 euros. Average salaries in these same countries are 1500, 1400 and 1700 euros, respectively. In Ukraine, the average pension is 114 euros, the average salary is 330 euros. At the same time, prices for main products on European shelves are not too different from Ukrainian ones.
“Of course, in Italy or Germany, products are more expensive, but incomes there are much higher. And if we compare food prices in Eastern Europe and Ukraine, they are almost the same. We recently calculated the average consumer basket in Poland, and it turned out that it is even cheaper than in Ukraine. Considering that the study assesses the relationship with family income, it is not surprising that Ukraine is at the bottom of the list in terms of the share of food expenditures. Yes, we produce a lot of products and there shouldn’t be any problems in this matter, but very low incomes lead to poor performance in such ratings,” Pendzin noted.
The expert recalls that at one time the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) identified the signs of food security. According to these data, if food expenses exceed 60%, this means that there is famine in the country
“So far our overall figure is lower, but these are average numbers. And in Ukraine there are entire social groups where food expenses are 60% or higher - these are, first of all, pensioners,” says Oleg Pendzin.
Food and utilities: what Ukrainians spend money on
In Ukraine, the share of expenses on food has always been about 50%, agrees analyst Alexey Kushch. The main expenses of our fellow citizens are food and utilities. Quite a bit goes towards rest, leisure, education, and self-development. It’s not often that it comes to medicine, especially preventive medicine, which then, unfortunately, for many people transforms into low life expectancy.
“The share of food expenses is one of the indicators of poverty,” explains Alexey Kushch. “The fact is that the middle class is determined by a wide range of criteria, one of which is the ability to accumulate money and spend on self-development - recreation, culture, travel, education, quality medicine. That is, the more a person can save and spend in the service sector, the closer he gets to the middle class. And the larger the food portion of total expenses, the closer the citizen is to socially vulnerable groups. Accordingly, if in a country the majority of the population earns only food, we can clearly conclude that this is a poor country.”
Oleg Pendzin also believes that there are generally large distortions in spending in the country when compared with European countries. For example, Europeans spend 10-12% on travel and hotels, and 5-8% on culture. In Ukraine, in general, less than a percent is now spent on such expenditure items.
The more a person can save and spend in the service sector, the closer he gets to the middle class
“The cost structure of Europeans and Ukrainians is fundamentally different,” World Bank expert Oksana Ruzhenkova noted in a comment to Focus. “Many Ukrainians first pay mandatory payments - utilities, telephone, Internet, travel. What is left is spent on food and medicine. Next - clothing, training, household appliances, and somewhere in the background - recreation, preventive medicine, etc.”
Minimum expenses: Ukrainians consume four times less cheese than Europeans
Picodi also talked about how much they spend on food in different countries of the world in absolute numbers. The highest food costs in Europe are observed in Switzerland (325 euros per month), Norway (308 euros) and Denmark (281 euros), which experts attribute to the generally high prices in these countries. The average Ukrainian's food expenses are only 98 euros. This is the sixth result from the end, which is difficult to explain by low prices. After all, as already indicated in the article, prices for main products are not very different from prices in neighboring countries closer to the country.
“Ukrainians’ spending on food is minimal because we eat very much outside the norm. There is such a dependence: the poorer the population, the more potatoes and bread they consume, and the less meat, vegetables and fruits. And consumption figures only confirm our poverty. For example, the rational norm for meat is 90 kg per year; before the war we consumed 68 kg, now it is 64 kilos. The rational norm for fruit is 100 kg per year, we consume no more than 80. Ukrainians, compared to Europeans, eat very few berries and nuts, and we have low consumption of dairy products,” says Oleg Pendzin.
A study conducted two years ago showed that Ukrainians are four times behind Europeans in cheese consumption. While the average Ukrainian consumes 4.66 kg of cheese per year, in Europe this figure is 18.3 kg, in the USA - 17.48 kg, Canada - 14.41 kg, Australia - 11.78, Argentina - 9 .6 kg. Such studies were not conducted during a full-scale war, but experts say the situation has only gotten worse during this time.
“This is not due to the peculiarities of our national cuisine, but, first of all, to the very low incomes of our citizens,” says Oleg Pendzin. And this is understandable: high-quality hard cheese costs about 350-580 UAH per kilogram in supermarkets in August 2023.
When women with children left the country, the demand for frozen semi-finished products sharply increased in Ukraine - men choose dumplings and dumplings
But Ukrainians eat a lot of potatoes, bread and sugar, and salt consumption generally breaks records. If the norm is considered to be 3-3.5 kilos per year per person, then the Ukrainian figure is 15 kilos. However, Ukrainians are “friends” with salt due to mental and traditional characteristics. The fact is, says Pendzin, that Ukrainians do a lot of spinning and preserving - again, in order to thus reduce food costs during the autumn-winter-spring - until the time of the new vegetable harvest.
“The lion's share of purchases are products from the social basket. It seems that there is a critical minimum in it, but during the war, most consumers reconsidered it, taking into account the food reserves made at the beginning of the Russian invasion,” says Oksana Ruzhenkova. “Today, in the “bins” of every Ukrainian there is enough cereals, salt, and sugar. In urban areas, they are stored in the range of 2-5 kg, in rural areas - in bags. In addition, a variety of canned food, butter, coffee and tea supplies. So, the main items of food expenditure are bread, eggs, vegetables, sausages and meat, and dairy products. And people buy them very thoughtfully - at sales, at a discount. After all, the incomes of the majority of Ukrainians, despite official data on the growth of average wages, have not increased.”
The expert also noted the renaissance in demand for semi-finished and frozen products. Now single men whose families have gone abroad, and women whose husbands and sons are on the front line have literally become hooked on it.
“That is, there is a demand for food, but it is very sluggish due to depleted wallets, products from one’s own household, stocks made and, unfortunately, depression, which has narrowed the number of reasons for which one could have a tasty meal and a good walk,” - the expert summed up.
The paradox of Ukrainian nutrition: why Ukrainians eat a lot of sweets and fatty foods
When there is not enough money, people first of all refuse good and healthy products, giving preference not to quality, but to quantity. This is where the paradox of Ukrainian nutrition arises: the poorer it is, the fattier and sweeter it is. Most Ukrainians consume unhealthy foods and subsequently have health problems, but this is due not only to high prices and low wages, but also to food preferences, reluctance to monitor their health and change habits, says nutritionist-consultant Alena Yudina.
“Ukrainians eat few vegetables, especially in winter. The reason is again cited as a lack of funds, but vegetables are not only cucumbers and bell peppers. There are much cheaper options - white and Chinese cabbage, radish, beets. Ukrainians also eat little fruit - they say that “they don’t want it”, it’s better to eat candy. In addition, we eat little fish, which ideally should be eaten two to three times a week, alternating between fatty and lean varieties. Moreover, we are not talking exclusively about salmon or sturgeon. You can eat available fish - herring, mackerel,” the expert said. She adds: Another problem is the large amount of refined sugar in the diet.
“What plays against us here is that added sugar lies in wait for us not only in the sugar bowl, sweet soda and confectionery, but also in quite unexpected products - ready-made food, semi-finished products, sauces, bread, sausage, canned food,” the nutritionist noted.
The roots of the problem of unbalanced nutrition of Ukrainians lie in a poorly developed food culture, Yudina is sure. The diet of our parents in Soviet times was quite limited: people did not see any seafood, nor so many grains, nor foreign vegetables and fruits - even bananas were exotic, accessible only to high-ranking officials in the capital. And, probably, too little time has passed for Ukrainians to radically change their diet, replacing sausage with chicken breast, and herring under a fur coat with a healthy green salad with mozzarella cheese, capers and olive oil.
