In 2012, the price level 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%).

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%).