Food is expensive in Finland. And not only when it comes to eating in restaurants, also buying the food for home in the supermarkets costs much more in the country o ice and snow than in most of Europe.
This is what the latest data published by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) say. Finnish consumers pay 20% more for food than the average for other Europeans. And prices turn even higher when it comes to purchasing certain products, for example alcoholic beverages.
The official figures shot that in 2018 the price level of a comparable basket of food and non-alcoholic beverages across the European Union (EU) was 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, at 130% of the EU average. This country was closely followed by Luxembourg and Austria (both 125%), Ireland and Finland (both 120%) and Sweden (117%), according to Eurostat.
At the opposite end of the scale, the lowest food price levels in the EU were observed in Romania (66% of the average), Poland (69%), Bulgaria (76%), Lithuania (82%), Czechia (84%) and Hungary (85%).
Source: Eurostat.
Alcohol and tobacco
The price levels for alcoholic beverages ranged from one to almost two and a half. The lowest price levels were registered in Bulgaria and Romania (both 74% of the EU average) and Hungary (77%), and the highest in Finland (182%), Ireland (177%) and Sweden (152%).
For tobacco, the price levels were four times higher in the most expensive member state than in the cheapest. The lowest price levels were observed in Bulgaria (49% of the average), Poland (60%) and Croatia (62%) and the highest in the United Kingdom (204%), Ireland (201%) and France (141%).
Source: Eurostat.
Meat, milk, bread and cereals
Comparative data on consumer price levels are also available for more detailed breakdowns of food products. For bread and cereals, price levels ranged from 54% of the EU average in Romania to 152% in Denmark. For meat, from 63% in Poland an Romania to 146% in Austria. And for milk, cheese and eggs from 71% in Poland to 136% in Cyprus.
For more detailed information on each country's price level, both inside and outside the EU, check the list below.
Source: Eurostat.
