The Luca Index tracks the price of a plain covrig, the Romanian street pretzel, at the Luca bakery chain and sets it against inflation and wages. 2010 = 100.
Updated 1 Oct 2026 · CPI to Jul 2026
250The Luca covrig. 2.5 times its 2010 price.
207Consumer prices (CPI, INS), Jul 2026.
418Average net wage: 5,820 lei, Jul 2026.
Dearer than inflation, cheaper than wages
The covrig is up 150% since 2010; consumer prices are up 107%. In 2010 money, today's covrig costs 1.21 lei. But the average net wage rose 318%, so one covrig now takes 4.3 minutes of work, down from 7.2 in 2010.
Plain Luca covrigConsumer prices (CPI)Average net wage
Dots are prices actually observed. Dotted lines join two observations between which the price changed on an unknown date, or between which there is no data (2011–2019, when the price was 1.00 leu at both ends). CPI is monthly; the wage is the annual average, with Jul 2026 as the last point.
Over ten years at one leu, then three rises
The covrig cost 1.00 leu from 2010 until at least 23 Jan 2021. Consumer prices rose 30% over that time, so in real terms the covrig fell to 0.77 lei in 2010 money. All of the increase came after that.
Each row is a price and the period over which it was seen. The exact date of a rise lies somewhere between the last sighting of the old price and the first of the new one.
How many covrigi fit in a salary
An average net wage bought 1,391 covrigi in 2010 and 3,217 in 2020, the peak year. The rises since have brought that down to 2,328 today.
The year's average net wage divided by the covrig price on 1 July. Pale bars have an uncertain price: either there is no observation that year (2012–2018, assumed 1.00 leu) or a rise happened around that date. 2026 uses the Jul 2026 wage and today's price.
Your salary, in covrigi
On the average net wage, you work 4.3 minutes for one covrig.
Romania in covrigi
The covrig costs nearly the same across the country; wages do not. In 2024 an average net wage bought 3,382 covrigi in București and 1,921 in Teleorman.
Shelf prices in lei at most locations. In 2019–2021 Covri Luca and Luca Tradițional cost 0.50 lei more in Bucharest. The plain covrig weighed 95 g in 2010 and 2022 and weighs 110 g in 2026, so per gram the rise is 116%.
