The covrig against everything else

The same covrig, in Warsaw

Luca also has shops in Poland. There a poppy or sesame covrig costs 4.90 złoty, or 5.92 lei at today's rate: 2.4 times the Romanian price. It is a miniature Big Mac index: same product, same company, two countries.

+137%How “overvalued” the złoty is against the leu, if a covrig ought to cost the same everywhere. The covrig rate: 0.51 lei per złoty; the market rate: 1.21.
2,444 / 1,420Covrigi per average net wage, Romania against Poland (Eurostat, 2025). The Romanian wage buys 1.7 times as many.

Warsaw price: Ziarul Financiar, 2 Aug 2026. Exchange rate: ECB reference rate of 1 Oct 2026. Wages: annual net earnings of a single person without children on the average wage (Eurostat), divided by 12; for Romania this differs from the INS average net wage used on the other pages. Luca says it sets prices by local incomes, rents and competition in each city.

The covrig in euros

The leu has weakened against the euro, so in euros the rise is smaller: from 23 cents in 2010 to 47 today, or +102%, against +150% in lei.

0102030405020102012201420162018202020222024202647 c010203040502010201420182022202647 c

Each observed price divided by the average euro/leu rate for that month (ECB reference rates). The axis is in euro cents.

The covrig against bread and bakery goods

INS tracks bread and bakery products separately; bakery is the closest category to the covrig. Since 2010 bread is up 94% and bakery 91%. The Luca covrig, at 150%, has overtaken both, but only since 2022.

Plain Luca covrigBread (INS)Bakery products (INS)
100150200250201020122014201620182020202220242026Covrig 250Bread 194Bakery 19110015020025020102014201820222026Covrig 250Bread 194Bakery 191

What rose more than the covrig

The covrig ranks 5 of 28 in a list of goods and services tracked by INS. The only ones to rise more since 2010: water and sewage, electricity, cigarettes, fresh fruit.

  1. Water and sewage417
  2. Electricity338
  3. Cigarettes293
  4. Fresh fruit261
  5. Plain Luca covrig250
  6. Eggs246
  7. Gas245
  8. Rent238
  9. Books and newspapers233
  10. Fuel224
  11. Cheese218
  12. Restaurants and cafés218
  13. All consumer prices (CPI)207
  14. Potatoes203
  15. Coffee195
  16. Bread194
  17. Bakery products191
  18. Milk188
  19. Beer186
  20. Pork180
  21. Wine173
  22. City transport171
  23. Cooking oil167
  24. Poultry167
  25. Sugar141
  26. Medicines140
  27. Phone129
  28. Flour127

Price index, 2010 = 100, Jul 2026. A selection from the 100-plus categories INS publishes.

Covrigi by line of work

An average net wage in IT and communications bought 4,738 covrigi in 2024. One in hotels and restaurants, the very sector that sells covrigi, bought 1,474.

  1. IT and communications4,738
  2. Finance and insurance4,076
  3. Electricity and gas3,937
  4. Public administration and defence3,618
  5. Mining3,461
  6. Professional and scientific work3,024
  7. Education2,873
  8. Health and social care2,542
  9. Transport and storage2,430
  10. Construction2,385
  11. Manufacturing2,251
  12. Retail and wholesale2,094
  13. Water and waste2,079
  14. Arts and recreation2,012
  15. Agriculture, forestry and fishing1,996
  16. Administrative services1,965
  17. Real estate1,858
  18. Other services1,628
  19. Hotels and restaurants1,474

Average net wage by sector of the economy (INS, 2024) divided by 1.99 lei.

Pass the covrig on

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