By Chrysostomos Tsoufis

Inflation is coming down (e.g. our country in September had the 2nd lowest food inflation in the Eurozone, even without the start of supermarket initiative to reduce prices in about 2,200 codes) but Greece and especially Athens continues the….championship in accuracy.

Tradingpedia analysts compared 37 European capitals based on current prices and current wages. A comparison that does not flatter the Greek capital at all which remains (the survey is rolling) the 3rd most expensive capital in Europe.

The financial platform ran two comparisons, one for a single person and one for a family with 2 children.

He calculated basic monthly expenses for food, housing, transportation, personal care and entertainment and compared them to average salaries. Using this method, they calculated the monthly income needed to live comfortably in each capital city and how much money could potentially be saved by making careful lifestyle adjustments.

Based on the above, Athens is the 3rd least economically friendly capital. “Despite its Mediterranean charm and cultural appeal, living in Athens remains an economic struggle for many of its residents” comment the authors of the research.

The numbers show that the money is not….enough. To adequately satisfy the above needs in Athens, if you are single you need €1,149. But the average net salary according to tradingpedia is €1,017, so basic expenses are 113% of the average net salary.

Warsaw, which is at 127.4%, and Tirana, with an expenditure/salary ratio of 121.6%, are the only capitals in a worse fate than Athens.

The top 5 are closed by Lisbon with 115% and Chisinau, Moldova with 104.1%.

At the opposite end of the top 5 most affordable capitals are Luxembourg with 40.2% (monthly expenses for a single person are almost twice as much as in Greece at €2,237 but the average salary is more than five times higher at €5,580), Bern with 40.6%, Brussels with 49.6%, Helsinki with 50.1% and Copenhagen with a 54.7% ratio of expenses to average salary.

The same picture for the family with 2 children. Same 5th of queues, again Athens is the 3rd most expensive with the expenses being 93.3% of the earnings, that is, just enough for the family to make ends meet. According to the tradingpedia method, €137 remains for the …bank.

In Luxembourg the expenses are just 31.9% of the monthly family income and in Bern 34% with… a bright field of glory for savings, about €8,266/month!!!!

In the same survey, the 5 most affordable capital cities are also determined – always based on monthly expenditure as a percentage of the average monthly salary – on food, transport and entertainment.

Needless to say, Athens is not located in any…