Grote verschillen in voedselprijzen EU-lidstaten (en)

In 2012, the price level 1 of a comparable basket of food and non-alcoholic beverages was more than twice as high in the most expensive EU27 Member State than in the cheapest one.

Denmark had the highest price level for food and non-alcoholic beverages in the EU27 in 2012, at 143% of the EU27 average, followed by Sweden (124%), Austria (120%), Finland (119%), Ireland (118%) and Luxembourg (116%). The lowest price levels were observed in Poland (61%), Romania (67%), Bulgaria (68%) and Lithuania (77%).

These data come from a report 2 issued by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union . The results refer to the survey on food, beverage and tobacco prices carried out in 2012 in the 37 participating countries. This survey covered a total of approximately 500 comparable products.

Highest price disparities for tobacco

Data are also available for more detailed breakdowns of food products. For bread and cereals, price levels ranged from 57% of the EU27 average in Bulgaria to 159% in Denmark ; for meat from 55% in Poland to 132% in both Denmark and Austria ; and for milk, cheese & eggs from 63% in Poland to 141% in Cyprus .

The price levels for alcoholic beverages ranged from one to more than two and a half. The lowest price levels for alcoholic beverages were registered in Bulgaria (67% of the EU27 average), Romania (75%), Hungary (79%) and Germany (82%), and the highest in Finland (175%), Ireland (162%), Sweden (161%) and the United Kingdom (143%).

For tobacco, the price levels were almost four times higher in the most expensive Member State than in the cheapest. The lowest price levels were observed in Hungary (52% of the EU27 average), Lithuania (55%), Bulgaria (57%) and Poland (58%), and the highest in Ireland (199%), the United Kingdom (194%), Sweden (132%) and France (129%).

Comparative price level indices 2012, EU27=100

• - 

  Comparative price levels are expressed in the form of price level indices (PLIs). PLIs provide a comparison of countries’ price levels with respect to the European Union average: if the PLI is higher than 100, the country concerned is relatively expensive compared to the EU average and vice versa . However, PLIs only provide an indication of the order of magnitude of the price level in one country in relation to others, particularly when countries are clustered around a very narrow range of outcomes.

The data is produced by the Eurostat-OECD Purchasing Power Parities programme. The full methodology used in the programme is described in the Eurostat-OECD Methodological manual on purchasing power parities which is available free of charge from the Eurostat website:

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/product_details/publication?p_product_code=KS-RA-12-023

• - 

  Eurostat , Statistics in Focus, 15/2013, " Significant differences in price levels for food, beverages and tobacco across Europe in 2012 ". Available in Statistics Explained on the Eurostat website:

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Comparative_price_levels_for_food,_beverages_and_tobacco .

Eurostat news releases on the internet : http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat