Poland's Food Prices Are Europe's Lowest

Poland has the lowest food prices in Europe, according to figures released by Eurostat. In 2012, the price of a comparable basket of food and non-alcoholic beverages came in at just 61 percent of the EU average. This is in stark contrast to the most expensive state in the EU, Denmark, where the cost of food is twice that of Poland – 143 percent of the EU28 average.

Unsurprisingly, the cheapest food prices in the EU can be found throughout the former Eastern Bloc, where economic development took hold at a slow pace. Romania has the second cheapest food prices in the EU, at 67 percent of the EU28 average while Bulgaria rounds off the top three, coming in at 68 percent.

The top five is rounded off by Lithuania and Hungary where food prices are 77 and 81 percent of the EU28 average respectively. In fact, there is only one country in the top ten list of Europe’s cheapest countries which is not located in Eastern Europe – Portugal. In 2012, Portuguese food prices were 90 percent of the EU28 average, the tenth cheapest nation in the EU.