Overnight stays got 7.1 percent more expensive in August compared with August last year. That is the figure worth pulling out of the latest data from the State Statistical Office - and it is almost double the average rise across the whole hospitality sector.

In total, hospitality services in August are 3.7 percent more expensive year on year. Against July, the rise is 0.6 percent. So prices did not jump - they simply never stop rising, month after month.

What went up by how much

The biggest monthly rise in August was in drinks: alcoholic and non-alcoholic, 1.5 percent each. Food in hospitality venues rose 0.5 percent, and overnight stays 0.4 percent against July.

The annual picture is different and more dramatic. Overnight stays are up 7.1 percent, soft drinks 3.6, alcoholic drinks 3.5 and food 2.9 percent.

From the start of the year through August, alcoholic drinks rose the most - 6 percent - while food is 4.9 percent more expensive. Cumulatively, hospitality services in the January-August period are 3 percent more expensive than the same period last year, and against December 2025 the rise is 1.3 percent.

Who pays the bill for the overnight stay

The overnight stay is the item that separates the domestic consumer from the tourist, and it is precisely that item rising fastest. For a guest from abroad, 7.1 percent is a difference that usually goes unnoticed. For a household from Stip or Prilep wanting three nights on Lake Ohrid, it is a real bill with a real consequence - either a shorter stay, or none at all.

That is also why average figures are deceptive. "Hospitality rose 3.7 percent" sounds moderate. But when that average is carried by coffee, which rose a little, and dragged by the overnight stay, which rose twice as much, it is the domestic guest paying the most expensive component.

These are prices for something that is not an obligation. Nobody has to spend a night away, nobody has to sit down in a tavern. Which is exactly why this index says more about living standards than many others - it measures how much people can still afford not to be at home. If that seventh percent on overnight stays repeats next season too, the question of where domestic guests take their holidays will no longer be a question of taste.