Most Lithuanians feel price hikes after euro adoption

The requirement to indicate prices in both the euro and the litas was lifted in July and this was reflected in the survey. Nearly a third of the polled, or 27 percent, mostly young people, estimated prices in the euro. Meanwhile, the number of the respondents who still estimated prices in the litas has decreased since February from 26 to 12 percent. Nearly half (45 percent) of the respondents said they converted prices from the euro to the litas first and only then estimated the cost of a good. The number of people who bought goods without estimating prices decreased from 22 to 17 percent.

The shift might have been influenced by the change in prices, as indicated by the polled. In February, a fifth of the respondents said that prices had not changed. Meanwhile, in September only four percent indicated so, while the absolute majority (95 percent) believed that goods became more expensive after the euro adoption. As many as three out of four respondents aged 65-74 years stated that prices of goods increased significantly.

Based on the survey carried out by pollster RAIT, people’s habits to use the euro has not changed over seven months. A fifth (22 percent in September, 20 percent in February) of the polled said they were completely used to the new currency, while nearly half (43 percent in September, 41 percent in February) said they were somewhat used to the new currency.