The EU may legally be a single market but food prices range widely across its 27 member states, according to data from Brussels.
The most recent survey of 500 comparable products by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical agency, shows in 2009 the price of a comparable basket of food and non-alcoholic beverages was more than twice as high in the most expensive EU country than the cheapest.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Denmark was nearly 40% above the average. Ireland, Finland, Luxembourg, Austria, Belgium, Germany and France were between 10% and 30% above the average.
At the other end of the spectrum were the Baltic states – Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania – and the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, with price levels between 10% and 30% below the average.
Meanwhile, Bulgaria, Romania and Poland saw prices between 30% and 40% below the average.
Prices closer to the mean were found in Italy, Cyprus, Sweden and Greece (up to 10% above average), and the UK, the Netherlands, Spain, Slovenia, Malta and Portugal – up to 10% below.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataEurostat also looked outside the EU, and found Norway even more expensive – with its food basket costing 54% more than the EU average. And to eat cheap – move to Macedonia where food prices are 52% below the EU average.
