Irish consumers pay over EU average for basics
Latest CSO figures show price for bread, fruit and potatoes are above average
Print27 June 2013
New figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that consumers in Ireland are paying over the odds compared with our European counterparts. According to the CSO, Ireland paid 10% more for meat and bread and nearly double the average for tobacco.
Irish prices for all seven of the main categories of food, beverages and tobacco were above the EU average for 2012. Out of 37 countries surveyed, Ireland came seventh from the top on the price level indices for food and non-alcoholic beverages. Irish prices for meat, bread and cereals were 10% above the EU average while Irish customers paid 38% above the average for fruit, vegetables and potatoes. Ireland also paid 19% over the average for milk, cheese and eggs.
Prices for tobacco last year was 99% above the average while price levels in Ireland for alcohol were higher than the average by 62%. These results are taken from the survey on food, beverages and tobacco, carried out in 2012 within the Eurostat-OECD Purchasing Power Parities (PPP) Programme. The survey covered approximately 500 items.
According to the survey, Switzerland pay the most for their meat, with prices there 121% above average. Albanian prices for meat were the lowest in the EU, coming in 48% below the EU average.
Norway had the highest price levels for bread and cereals, while the lowest price levels were observed in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, 83% above and 46% below the EU average respectively. The country groups included in the analysis are the 27 (EU) Member States, three European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries (Iceland, Norway and Switzerland), acceding country Croatia, four candidate countries (the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey) and two potential candidate countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina).
The CSO state that the differences in prices show there’s a large variation within the EU.
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