Macedonians Still Lag in Modern Comforts

Photo by: Tod Tanis

Meanwhile, it's not unusual to find vintage black-and-white TVs in Macedonian homes.

The survey shows that Macedonians are well-equipped with the basic electrical appliances for everyday living. Nearly all homes have a stove, refrigerator, heater, iron, washing machine, vacuum cleaner and TV.

However, only 20 per cent of Macedonian households have air-conditioning, and just slightly more, 25 per cent, have a dishwasher. A mere seven per cent have a video camera.

And when it comes to electronic gadgets that are common in most European households, Macedonians fare poorly.

For example, only 29 percent of Macedonian families have a CD player at home. Even fewer, 27 percent, have a hi-fi system. And just 33 percent own a camera.

The survey shows that many Macedonians like to keep their outdated equipment in good shape. Despite the fact that 97 percent of households have color TVs, some 2.2 percent still use black-and-white sets.

In a staggering 29 per cent of households, families still use a VCR to watch their old video tapes, and 32 percent listen to music on audio cassettes.

While these numbers pale in comparison to more developed countries, they represent significant progress in Macdeonia, where the last such survey was done in 2005.

Some 80 per cent of Macedonian families now own at least one mobile phone; in 2005, that number was below 40 percent. And more than 50 per cent of households now have a PC and Internet service. In 2005, the number of PC owners was just 12 percent.