Maltese food prices compare well to EU average

A survey that covered a total of approximately 440 comparable food products has found that the price level of a comparable basket of food and non-alcoholic beverages across the EU was more than 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 2015, at 145% of the EU average, followed by Sweden (124%), Austria (120%), Ireland and Finland (both 119%) and Luxembourg (116%). At the opposite end of the scale, the lowest price levels were observed in Poland (63%), Romania (64%), Bulgaria (70%), Lithuania (78%), the Czech Republic and Hungary (both 79%).

Malta had comparable prices to the EU average, but enjoyed cheaper meat products and slightly higher prices on milk, cheese and eggs.

Malta’s ‘actual individual consumption’ – a measure of material welfare based on how many goods and services individuals consume – is well below the EU average, in a clear demarcation between nationals living in the north and south of Europe.

AIC per capita for 12 EU members lay between the EU average and 30% below. In Italy, Ireland and Cyprus the levels were 10% or less below the EU average, while Spain, Portugal, Lithuania, Greece and Malta were between 10% and 20% below. Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia were between 20% and 30% below the average.

AIC per individual, expressed in Purchasing Power Standards (PPS), varied from 51% to 137% of the EU.

10 states recorded AIC per capita above the EU average in 2015. The highest was recorded in Luxembourg, 37% above the EU average. Germany was nearly 25% above, followed by Austria, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Finland, Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Sweden which all recorded levels between 10% and 20% above the EU average.

Six states were more than 30% below the EU average: Estonia, Latvia and Hungary were between 30% and 40% below, while Croatia and Romania had AIC per capita just over 40% below the EU average and Bulgaria was around 50% below.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, a measure of economic activity, also shows substantial differences between the member states. In 2015, GDP per capita expressed in PPS ranged between 46% of the EU average in Bulgaria to 271% in Luxembourg.