The price of bread has gone up to 60 cents in some bakeries in Pristina and in some other municipalities in the country. Citizens complain about this increase in price, while bakers justify the increase in prices for bread products. But from the Association of Millers they estimate that this price did not need to increase.
KosovaPress has discovered the prices for half a kilogram of bread in some bakeries in the capital, where it can be seen that the prices have risen by 100 percent per year, compared to 2024 with that of 2010. According to data from the Kosovo Agency of Statistics (KAS) for the last ten years, from 31 cents for a half-kilogram loaf of bread in 2010, in 2022 this average price has reached 49 cents. KAS has not published the average bread prices for 2023 and 2024.
While the citizens ask the Ministry of Industry and Trade to increase the number of inspectors in order to monitor the prices in the field, they say that it is difficult to manage these prices. The citizen, Zarife Sopjani, while assessing that bread should be freed, says that everyday life is getting more and more difficult with high prices.
That the price of bread is expensive and that it should be made cheaper and also that the inspections of the inspectorate in bakeries should be increased, says the citizen, Hasan Abazi.
He told KosovaPress that there should be a reduction in the price of bread, not an unreasonable increase.
Another citizen, who wished to remain anonymous, complained about the price of bread.
On the other hand, Muhamet Farizi from the Millers’ Association has stated for KosovaPress that the price of wheat has not changed much, so he says that bakers have had no reason to increase the price of bread.
The head of the organization for Consumer Protection, Selatin Kaçaniku, while saying that there is no reason to increase the price of bread, adds that with this increase, citizens’ incomes are being depleted. He asked the government to take immediate measures in this regard.
According to KAS data, a 500-gram loaf of bread cost 31 cents in 2010, in 2011 it increased to 0.40 cents, in 2012 it decreased and the price was 0.39 cents, in 2013 the price of bread was 0.37 cents, in 2014 the price of bread was 0.36 cents, in 2015 it was 0.33 cents, there was also a drop in the price of bread in 2016, where a loaf of bread cost 0.29 cents. Likewise, according to KAS, in 2017 the price of bread was 0.28 cents, in 2018 the price of bread was 0.29 cents, in 2019 it was 0.35 cents, in 2020 also 0.35 cents, in 2021 the price of bread increased to 0.37 cents, while an increase in the price of bread was also noted in 2022, where the price of bread went to 0.49 cents. Until 2023 and 2024, there is no data on the average price of bread, while KosovaPress has come across some bakeries with the price of bread up to 60 cents for this year, for a 500 gram loaf.
