In 2018, the price level of a comparable basket of food and non-alcoholic beverages across the European Union (EU) was twice as high in the most expensive Member State than in the cheapest one. Denmark had the highest price level for food and non-alcoholic beverages in the EU in 2018, at 130% of the EU average, followed by Luxembourg and Austria (both 125%), Ireland and Finland (both 120%) and Sweden (117%). At the opposite end of the scale, the lowest price levels were observed in Romania (66%), Poland (69%), Bulgaria (76%), Lithuania (82%), Czechia (84%) and Hungary (85%).
For bread and cereals, price levels ranged from 54% of the EU average in Romania to 152% in Denmark; for meat from 63% in Poland and Romania to 146% in Austria; and for milk, cheese & eggs from 71% in Poland to 136% in Cyprus. The price levels for alcoholic beverages ranged from one to almost two and a half. The lowest price levels were registered in Bulgaria and Romania (both 74% of the EU average) and Hungary (77%), and the highest in Finland (182%), Ireland (177%) and Sweden (152%). For tobacco, the price levels were four times higher in the most expensive Member State than in the cheapest. The lowest price levels were observed in Bulgaria (49% of the EU average), Poland (60%) and Croatia (62%), and the highest in the United Kingdom (204%), Ireland (201%) and France (141%)
Sources:
Eurostat