Eurostat: Alcohol, food surprisingly cheap in Hungary
A detailed study on the cost of food in Europe has been published. As it turned out, Hungary has one of the lowest food and alcohol prices across the continent.
European study
Eurostat has published a detailed study comparing food, drink and tobacco prices across Europe. The document examines data from 36 countries, assembled in 2022. The countries include the 27 EU Member States and three EFTA countries Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. Also included are six candidate countries Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey.
The Hungarian press frequently comes up with headlines that the sky-high inflation pushes Hungarian food prices to astronomical levels, but the Eurostat study seems to contradict this.
Hungary ranks the 9th cheapest country in terms of food and non-alcoholic beverage costs. The lowest prices were measured in Turkey, which turned out to be 64% below the EU level. At the other end of the scale is Switzerland, where food costs 163% of the EU average.
In the region, only Romania and Poland are cheaper than Hungary, while the Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovenia and Slovakia proved to be more expensive, vilĂ¡ggazdasĂ¡g.hu reports.
Cheapest alcohol in Hungary
Eurostat also looked at the price of alcoholic beverages and found that Hungary has the cheapest booze out of the 36 countries surveyed. Hungarian prices were 18% below the EU average. The most expensive was Iceland, where alcohol costs threefold the EU average.
Aside from alcohol, there is also no complaint about the price of tobacco products in Hungary, which are valued at 76.2% of the average EU prices. In Turkey, they are even cheaper, with prices sitting at only 26.2%. Ireland serves as a striking contrast with its contrast 260% rate.
Broken down by product groups, bread is 90% of the EU average, meat 72.9% and fish 88.6%. However, the cost of milk, cheese and eggs are above the EU average.
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5 Comments
YOU really have to Wonder.
Jury still rests for me, as this report, indicates “thinness” in its reporting mechanism.
Hungarians we KNOW – the “skyrocketing” prices, that in large part have NO relevance to our INFLATION on-going “nightmare.”
I have strong doubts about this report. What are the groceries? The average person, children included, does not smoke or drink. I like to see a list plus prices plus at which shops they are bought.
Are these prices also compared with the average income?
Out of years of experience, I know it is cheaper to shop in Germany and Italy than it is here. This includes vegetables, fruits, diaries and meat and toiletries. There is way more choice too.
@DNH, Can you please advise where? Last time I went to buy meat (beef) I decided to buy less frequently as the price went crazy. Travelling for holiday I found some food cheaper in Italy and Slovenia than in Hungary! Please be more precise in your article. Thank you.
Hungary is an excellent place to live. Those who hanker after foreign lands where the salaries are higher forget that the cost of living is much, much higher also. In England, for instance, I paid $180 per month for my gas and electric consumption; here, I don’t pay that in a YEAR, while my consumption is the same.
@FV, please note that it’s not our standpoint, we only report the findings of Eurostat. We also all feel the weight of the exorbitant food prices in Hungary..