Technical article
What the Food Shop Costs in Five European Countries, Measured the Same Way
If we kept the same shopping list, where would the bill be smaller, and by how much?
Picture a couple named Helen and Tom. Both are 61. They cook at home most nights, and they ask a simple thing. If we kept the same shopping list, where would the bill be smaller, and by how much?
Each country has its own shops and its own money, so a list of prices from one chain would not settle it. Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, solves part of this. It compares what the same kind of basket costs in each country and sets the EU average at 100.
The numbers
This is the price level for "food and non-alcoholic beverages". A score of 100 means the EU average. A score of 88.8 means prices are 11.2% below it.
| Country | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Bulgaria | 88.5 | 88.8 |
| Croatia | 101.8 | 103.7 |
| Latvia | 106.3 | 105.4 |
| Greece | 103.3 | 105.8 |
| France | 109.6 | 110.1 |
Eurostat also publishes a narrower line called "food". For 2024 it reads Bulgaria 87.1, Croatia 100.5, Latvia 103.1, Greece 105.1 and France 111.5. The order of the countries is the same on both lines.
What I take from it
My arithmetic: a shop that costs 100 in Bulgaria would cost about 124 in France, using the 2024 figures (110.1 divided by 88.8). Greece would be about 119, Latvia about 119 and Croatia about 117. These are index gaps, not receipts. A real basket depends on what you eat, where you shop and the season.
For France there is also a national reading. Insee, the French statistics office, says food prices rose 1.0% over the year to July 2026, after 0.9% in June, and 0.1% on the month. That is a change in prices, not a price level, so it sits beside the table and not in it.
Between 2023 and 2024 prices rose against the EU average in Croatia, Greece, France and Bulgaria. Latvia moved the other way, from 106.3 to 105.4. One year is a short stretch, so I would not call it a trend.
What is left open
- Prices in euros for a small kitchen. Eurostat gives an index, not a shopping total, and Insee gives the change in French food prices (above) but no basket of prices in euros. To turn the index into euros, use your own weekly shop as the base, as the list below suggests.
- Growing your own food is outside what these tables measure. Rules for gardens and allotments are local and are not part of the index.
You could…
- Write down your current weekly food spending and multiply it by the index ratio as a rough guide.
- Read shelf prices in a local supermarket's online shop before deciding.
- Check what share of your spending is food and non-alcoholic drink, since that is the category Eurostat measures here.
What does your weekly shop look like, and how much of it could change?
Figures are estimates for planning, based on public data. Date read: 10 October 2026.
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