Cost of living in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Two agencies agree. For 2024, the World Bank's figure works out at 40.7 and Eurostat's at 45.7 — a gap of 5.0 points. Two independent programmes landing within 5 points is the strongest evidence available that the level is right.

Compared with its region

Bosnia and Herzegovina against the Europe & Central Asia countries closest to it on price level.

• Bosnia and Herzegovina 44.3
• Turkiye 45.0
• Armenia 41.0
• North Macedonia 41.0
• Kosovo 40.6
• Romania 48.8
• Georgia 39.7
• Albania 49.2
• Montenegro 49.5

SOURCE·World Bank — International Comparison Program·PPP conversion factor for household final consumption, and the official market exchange rate. CC BY 4.0.·REVIEWED AUG 2026

What is dear and what is cheap

Eurostat prices 19 spending categories separately for Bosnia and Herzegovina (2024), again with the United States at 100. This is where a national average stops being one number: a country can be cheap to eat in and expensive to drive in.

• Milk, cheese and eggs 95.6
• Communication 95.4
• Clothing and footwear 95.0
• Non-alcoholic drinks 91.1
• Transport 91.1
• Alcoholic drinks 90.4
• Fish 83.4
• Food and non-alcoholic drinks 83.2
• Bread and cereals 79.5
• Meat 78.7
• Recreation and culture 75.7
• Restaurants and hotels 74.6
• Furnishings and household equipment 72.5
• Fruit and vegetables 71.9
• Health 56.1
• Tobacco 49.4
• Overall consumption (incl. government-funded services) 40.0
• Education 34.2
• Housing, water, electricity and fuel 31.0

SOURCE·Eurostat — purchasing power parities (prc_ppp_ind)·Price level indices by consumption category, published on an EU27=100 basis and rebased here to US=100. CC BY 4.0.·REVIEWED AUG 2026

What this figure is, and is not

• It is an index, not a price. 44.3 means the general level of consumer prices, with the US at 100. It is not a shopping bill and this site never quotes one.
• It is national, not city. Sarajevo is almost certainly dearer than this. National averages cannot answer a city question.
• It is not your budget. What you actually spend depends on rent, transport and habits far more than on the national average.

Compare Bosnia and Herzegovina with another country

Every pairing below is a page of its own, with the category detail side by side. Nearest on price level first.

How the price level is worked out

1. The World Bank publishes a purchasing power parity for household consumption — how much local currency buys the same basket as one US dollar — and the official market exchange rate for the same year.
2. The price level is simply PPP ÷ exchange rate × 100. If a basket needs 1.50 New Zealand dollars per US dollar of purchasing power but the market hands you 1.65 New Zealand dollars for that dollar, New Zealand's prices sit at 1.50 ÷ 1.65 = 91% of the US level.
3. Nothing is modelled, smoothed or estimated. You can reproduce every number on this site from two public figures.
4. Where Eurostat also publishes a price level for the same country and year, the two are compared and the gap is printed — including when they disagree.

Full methodology →

SOURCE·World Bank — International Comparison Program·PPP conversion factor for household final consumption, and the official market exchange rate. CC BY 4.0.·REVIEWED AUG 2026

SOURCE·World Bank ICP PPPs + Eurostat price level indices·price levels derived as PPP ÷ exchange rate, see method·REVIEWED AUG 2026