Living Standards Measurements Study - Serbia 2002 - 2007

Table 5.4. Households by type of heating used and type of settlement, 2002 and 2007 (percent)
2002 2007
Type of heating
Type of settlement
Type of settlement
Urban Other Urban Other
Central heating 26.4 0.5 36.2 0.3
Electricity 17.8 3.1 12.5 2.7
Solid fuel (wood, coal) 40.2 84.9 34.3 84.1
Gas 4.9 4.1 8.3 5.3
Liquid fuel 0.3 0.2 1.2 0.9
Other combinations 10.4 7.2 7.5 6.8
Vojvodina has the longest tradition in using
gas for heating and the presence of this heating type
is very dominant compared to other regions.
According to 2007 data 18 percent of Vojvodina
households used this type of heating, the same
figure as households that use electricity for heating.
If the households which use gas are ranked by
region, in addition to Vojvodina, Sumadija (with 6.3
percent) and Belgrade (with 3.0 percent) stand out,
while in the other regions of Serbia, the proportion
of households using gas for heating is insignificant
(below 1 percent).
In relation to the use of solid fuel, far below
the overall average (54.2 percent) is Belgrade (24.9
percent) and Vojvodina (51.1 percent). In third
place is Sumadija (with 62.7 percent), followed by
East Serbia (with 66.4 percent), SE Serbia (with
75.6 percent). West Serbia (with 79.4 percent) has
the highest percentage of households using solid
fuel for heating.
If analysed by region, Belgrade (43.9 percent)
stands out with the highest proportion of households
with central heating, followed by: Vojvodina (18.1
percent), Sumadija (17.9 percent) and East Serbia
(15.2 percent). The share of households in West and
SE Serbia which use this form of heating is almost
equal (9.2 percent and 9.9 percent).
In relation to the use of electricity for heating,
it can be seen that Belgrade is the region with the
highest use (around 20 percent), followed by
households in East Serbia (8.6 percent) and
Sumadija (6.4 percent). The share of households in
West and SE Serbia which use this form of heating
is almost identical (5.5 percent and 5.6 percent).
Vojvodina stands out as the region with the lowest
proportion of households using electrical energy for
heating (3.3 percent).
Table 4 shows the differences in type of
heating used in urban and other types of settlement
(table 4). The majority (36.2 percent) of households
in urban settlements are supplied by heating plants;
34.3 percent by solid fuel and 12.5 percent use
electricity for heating. The share of the households
that use gas was 8.3 percent. A further increase in
the number of households using this type of heating
is expected. Compared to 2002 there was an
increase in all urban settlements in the number of
households using central heating, gas and liquid
fuels while, on the other hand, there was a decline in
the share of households using electricity, solid fuel
or a combined type of heating.
Unlike urban settlements, 84.1 percent of
households in other settlements are heated by solid
fuel (wood and coal); 5.3 percent use gas for heating
and 2.7 percent of the households are heated by
electricity. The number of households with central
heating using liquid fuels is insignificant. Slightly
less than 7 percent of the households use different
combinations of certain types of heating. Compared
to 2002 households in other settlements did not
considerably change their choice of heating type in
2007.
5.4. Housing expenditure
Housing expenditure represents a significant
share of the total household expenditure and relate
to expenditures for electricity, telephone and
utilities. LSMS 2007 shows (Table 5) that the
average monthly expenditures for electricity,
telephone and utilities account for 9 percent of total
household expenditure (electricity 4.1 percent,
telephone 1.8 percent and utilities 3.1 percent).
Housing conditions and possesion of durable goods
63