Our country has spent EUR 6.5 billion on housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels.

Our country has spent EUR 6.5 billion on housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels.

Nearly 20% of Bulgarians' monthly expenses are for housing. In 2017 we spent 6.5 billion euros on "housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels". These costs remain high for the other EU Member States. The highest share of housing costs is attributable to Finns - 28.8%. TOP 3 also includes Denmark with 28.7% and the UK with 26.7%. Fourth and fifth are France and Sweden, respectively, with housing costs of 26.2% and 26.1% of all household expenses. At the other end of the list are Malta - 10.1%, Lithuania - 14.8%, and Cyprus - 15.4%.

n the EU, households have spent 2 trillion. EUR or 13.1% of the Union's GDP for "housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels". This is 24.2% of their total consumer spending.

Looking at the data for a ten-year period (2007 and 2017), the share of 'housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels' in total household expenditure has increased in most Member States. Finland recorded the largest growth - from 24% of total household expenditure in 2007 to 28.8% in 2017, or 4.8 percentage points. Followed by Portugal with 3.8%, the Netherlands with 3.7%, Ireland with 3.5%, Bulgaria with 3.4% and Spain with 3%.