Consumers in Cyprus pay well above the EU average for food, particularly for milk, cheese and eggs which are the most expensive in the EU 28, but less than the average European for tobacco according to figures issued by Eurostat on Thursday.
In 2018, the price level of a comparable basket of food and non-alcoholic beverages across the (EU) was twice as high in the most expensive Member State than in the cheapest one, Eurostat said.
Denmark had the highest price level for food and non-alcoholic beverages in the EU in 2018, at 130% of the EU average, followed by Luxembourg and Austria (both 125%), Ireland and Finland (both 120%) and Sweden (117%).
In Cyprus, food and non-alcoholic beverages are at 108% of the EU average.
At the opposite end of the scale, the lowest price levels were observed in Romania (66%), Poland (69%), Bulgaria (76%), Lithuania (82%), Czechia (84%) and Hungary (85%).
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. In Cyprus, bread and cereals prices were well above the EU average at 123%.
As regards meat, prices ranged from 63% in Poland and Romania to 146% in Austria. Cyprus was below the EU average at 89%.
But Cyprus had the highest prices for milk, cheese and eggs at 136% of the average. These products were cheapest in Poland were prices were 71% of the EU average.
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%). Cyprus was marginally above the EU average at 103%.
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 EU average), Poland (60%) and Croatia (62%), and the highest in the United Kingdom (204%), Ireland (201%) and France (141%).
In Cyprus they were 82%.
The data in this article are based on the results of a price survey covering 440 products across Europe, which is part of the
Eurostat-OECD Purchasing Power Parity programme.
Price level indices (PLIs) provide a comparison of countries’ price levels relative to the European Union average: if the price level index is higher than 100, the country concerned is relatively more expensive than the EU average, while if the price level index is lower than 100, then the country is relatively cheaper than the EU average.
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