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North Macedonia vs Bulgaria

72% dearer than — North Macedonia against Bulgaria

North Macedonia41.02025
Bulgaria23.92025

On national price levels, North Macedonia is 72% dearer than Bulgaria. Both figures use the United States as 100.

Where the difference actually sits

A single number hides the interesting part. These are the categories Eurostat prices for both countries.

CategoryNorth MacedoniaBulgariaDifference
Overall consumption (incl. government-funded services)33.238.1 -13%
Food and non-alcoholic drinks73.488.8 -17%
Bread and cereals66.573.1 -9%
Meat79.174.8 +6%
Fish76.483.7 -9%
Milk, cheese and eggs91.2125.7 -27%
Fruit and vegetables60.081.5 -26%
Non-alcoholic drinks78.3108.2 -28%
Alcoholic drinks98.7107.4 -8%
Tobacco37.849.1 -23%
Clothing and footwear80.279.1 +1%
Housing, water, electricity and fuel37.838.1 -1%
Furnishings and household equipment68.775.0 -8%
Health33.744.3 -24%
Transport66.572.0 -8%
Communication68.782.8 -17%
Recreation and culture62.668.2 -8%
Education24.651.6 -52%
Restaurants and hotels49.553.2 -7%

SOURCE·Eurostat — purchasing power parities (prc_ppp_ind)·Price level indices by consumption category, published on an EU27=100 basis and rebased here to US=100. CC BY 4.0.·REVIEWED AUG 2026

Before you use this to decide anything

  • These are national averages. Comparing two capital cities is a different question and this data cannot answer it.
  • Price level is only half of the decision. What matters is prices relative to what you would earn — see what the job pays in each country on PayLens.
  • The figures are indices, not prices. Nothing here is a quote for rent or groceries.

How the price level is worked out

  1. The World Bank publishes a purchasing power parity for household consumption — how much local currency buys the same basket as one US dollar — and the official market exchange rate for the same year.
  2. The price level is simply PPP ÷ exchange rate × 100. If a basket needs 1.50 New Zealand dollars per US dollar of purchasing power but the market hands you 1.65 New Zealand dollars for that dollar, New Zealand's prices sit at 1.50 ÷ 1.65 = 91% of the US level.
  3. Nothing is modelled, smoothed or estimated. You can reproduce every number on this site from two public figures.
  4. Where Eurostat also publishes a price level for the same country and year, the two are compared and the gap is printed — including when they disagree.

Full methodology →

SOURCE·World Bank — International Comparison Program·PPP conversion factor for household final consumption, and the official market exchange rate. CC BY 4.0.·REVIEWED AUG 2026

SOURCE·World Bank ICP PPPs + Eurostat price level indices·price levels derived as PPP ÷ exchange rate, see method·REVIEWED AUG 2026

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Published by

Amit Sharma

Auckland real-estate agent and marketer. Builds free, sourced data tools.