Cluj-Napoca, Bucharest and Brasov are the most expensive cities in the country, while the cities with the lowest cost of living are Resica, Alexandria and Vaslui, according to a HotNews analysis based on food prices and apartment prices per square meter.

The food and wage data sets were provided to us by the National Institute for Statistics, the figures weighted by their “weight” in the consumer basket (according to the INS) and the wage level and housing prices (per square meter) were obtained from the National Union public notaries, and where there was no data, we used storia.ro and compariimobiliare.ro.

The data is valid for January 2023

For food I used a basic basket of eggs, milk, potatoes, onions, carrots, fruit (apples), honey, beans and cabbage.

If you exclude housing costs and stick only to the food index, the cheapest life changes its hierarchy

After Bucharest comes Sfantu Gheorghe and only then Cluj

Prices for basic food products in the studied cities are presented below:

The cheapest potatoes were in Tulcea, and the most expensive in Arad, Bucharest and Calarasi. The most expensive beans were in Cluj-Napoca, Merkurja-Chuk and Sfantu Gheorghe, the most expensive onions could also be bought in Cluj.