Living Standards Measurements Study - Serbia 2002 - 2007

The data in Table 5 and Graph 2 show that the
proportion of expenditure for electricity of total
household expenditure is the greatest among the
poorest (6.7 percent of the total expenditure) and the
smallest among the richest households (2.7 percent).
The electricity cost analysis is complemented
with data on the percentage of households whose
electricity bills exceed 10 percent of their total
expenditures (accessibility index). The accessibility
index was 10.7 percent in 2002, 12.7 percent in
2003, while in 2007 a significant decline was
recorded which is in accordance with the fact that
the number of the poor people in Serbia was
considerably reduced (Table 7).
Table 5.7. Percentage of households whose
electricity bills exceed 10 percent
of their total expenditures
(accessibility index), 2002, 2003
and 2007
2002 2003 2007
Accessibility index 10.7 12.7 7.3
The accessibility index shows that for 7.3
percent of households in Serbia electricity
expenditure exceeds 10 percent of their total
expenditures. Every fifth household below the
poverty line has a share of electricity expenditure
higher than 10 percent of its total expenditure.
According to the expenditure quintiles, around 17
percent of the poorest households have electricity
bills that exceed 10 percent of their total
consumption while only 1.2 percent of the richest
households are found in that situation (Table 8.)
The average electricity bill in urban
settlements is 2260 dinars and in other settlements it
is 2085 dinars (Table 9). The telephone bill is
slightly higher in urban settlements (1012 dinars)
and in other settlements it amounts to 897 dinars.
There is considerable difference with regard to the
monthly utilities bills which are slightly over four
times higher in urban than in other settlements. The
analysis based on the poverty line indicates that the
bills for electricity, telephone and utilities are much
higher in households above the poverty line,
especially regarding the amounts for utilities (1669
dinars in households above the poverty line and 694
dinars in households below the poverty line).
Unpaid bills for utilities and other services
point to household budgets overburdened by basic
housing expenditures. According to 2007 data the
average number of months for which the bills have
not been paid has insignificantly changed compared
to 2003. However, if this data is analyzed with
regard to the households being above or below the
poverty line, there are some considerable
differences. Almost all households pay telephone
bills (Table 10); in other words, the number of
months with unpaid bills is the lowest (1.6 months).
On average, poor households have not been paying
the electricity bills for ten months and the non-poor
for five months (Graph 3). The situation is more or
less the same with regard to the bills for utilities.
Only households living above the poverty line have
unpaid bills for building maintenance and gas which
only illustrates the inferior position of the poor
households concerning the standard of living and
usage of more convenient heating systems.
Table 5.8. Percentage of households whose electricity bills exceed 10 percent of their total expenditure
(accessibility index), 2007
Poverty line
Expenditure quintiles
Total
Below Above The poorest 2 3 4 The richest
Accessibility index 7.3 21.5 6.4 16.9 10.0 5.8 3.4 1.2
Table 5.9. Average expenditures for electricity, telephone and utilities in the previous month, 2007
Type of settlement
Poverty line
Urban Other Below Above
Electricity 2 260 2 085 1 311 2 245
Telephone 1 012 897 438 993
Utilities 2 031 553 694 1 669
Housing conditions and possesion of durable goods
65