Eurostat data published on Thursday revealed that in 2018, the price of a shopping basket containing comparable food products and non-alcoholic drinks cost twice as much in the most expensive member state as it cost in the cheapest one.
Luxembourg is situated in the top three, behind Denmark (130%) and at the same level as Austria, with prices 25% higher than the European average for food and non-alcoholic drinks.
Ireland and Finland are also among the most expensive countries. At the other end of the scale, the cheapest products were found in Romania (66% of the average), Poland, Bulgaria and Lithuania, as well as the Czech Republic and Hungary.
Luxembourg's neighbours, Belgium, France and Germany, are all significantly cheaper for the average shopping basket. However, if one examines food products in more detail, the order is not the same. Luxembourg is one of the most expensive countries for bread, eggs and milk, but this is not the case for meat products, tobacco or alcohol. For the last two products, Luxembourg is cheaper than the European average. Tobacco and alcohol are the only Luxembourgish products which fall below European average prices.
There is much disparity between the price of tobacco products in Bulgaria, at 49% of the average, and the United Kingdom, where they cost 204% of the average - a whopping four times difference between the cheapest and the most expensive countries.
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