CONSUMER BASKET IN UKRAINE: A REGIONAL ASPECT

Abstract

The article uncovers the consumer basket significance in formation and realization of social policy in Ukraine. The price of the consumer basket determines the living wage and ultimately, all other social standards, guarantee payments and assistance. Nowadays, there is a considerable mismatch between consumer basket composition and basic foods consumption rates of ukrainians: content of consumer basket doesn’t meet even minimal human needs. The amount of basic foods, except bakery products, in the consumer basket is much less than the rational and even the minimum rates required for a healthy diet, and actual consumption in Ukraine. In general, the weight structure of the consumer basket is outdated because it does not correspond to the present structure of food consumption. The authors have analyzed the ratios of regional consumer basket cost to key indicators of population welfare and identified 4 groups of administrative units acoording to the consumer basket cost to the key financial indicators of population well-being ratio.