Food prices in EU highest in Denmark, lowest in Poland

Denmark had the highest price level for food and non-alcoholic beverages in the EU in 2012, at 143 per cent of the average EU price, according to a report issued by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

The lowest prices were observed in Poland, which came in at 61 per cent of the average.

Malta registers at 98 per cent of the EU average.

Second highest was Sweden at 124 per cent, followed by Austria at 120 per cent, Finland at 119 per cent, Ireland at 118 per cent, and Luxembourg at 116 per cent.

Meanwhile, Romania saw the second lowest food prices at 67 per cent of the EU average, followed by Bulgaria and Lithuania at 68 and 77 per cent respectively.

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.

Data is also available for more detailed breakdowns of food products. For bread and cereals, price levels ranged from 57 per cent of the EU average in Bulgaria, to 159 per cent in Denmark; for meat, from 55 per cent in Poland to 132 per cent in both Denmark and Austria; and for milk, cheese and eggs, from 63 per cent in Poland to 141 per cent in Cyprus. In this case, Malta comes in at 113 per cent.

The price levels for alcoholic beverages ranged from one to more than two and a half times the average. The lowest price levels for alcoholic beverages were registered in Bulgaria (67 per cent of the average), Romania (75 per cent), Hungary (79 per cent) and Germany (82 per cent), and the highest in Finland (175 per cent), Ireland (162 per cent), Sweden (161 per cent) and the United Kingdom (143 per cent). Maltese alcohol prices are at 109 per cent of the average.

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 per cent of the EU average), Lithuania (55 per cent), Bulgaria (57 per cent) and Poland (58 per cent), and the highest in Ireland (199 per cent), the United Kingdom (194 per cent), Sweden (132 per cent) and France (129 per cent). With regard to tobacco products, prices in Malta are at 88 per cent of the EU average.