Bulgaria and Slovakia are the cheapest countries in Europe for food and alcohol, according to a survey on food, beverages and tobacco in the 27 EU countries...

The survey, carried out  by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, showed that Bulgarian shoppers pay 44% less on average for groceries than their European counterparts.

Alcohol costs 30% less than the EU average making it one of the cheapest, while tobacco products are 50% less expensive, on a par with the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Slovakia.

In 2006, the price level of a comparable basket of food and non-alcoholic beverages was two and half times higher in the most expensive EU27 Member State than in the cheapest one, data shows.

The range was similar for alcoholic beverages, but was much greater for tobacco where price levels were seven times higher.

Rip-off Denmark?

The highest price levels for food and non-alcoholic beverages were recorded in Denmark (142% of the EU27 average), Ireland (125%), Finland (120%) and Sweden (119%), and the lowest in Bulgaria (56%), Lithuania (64%), Poland and Slovakia (both 67%).

For bread and cereals, price levels ranged from 41% of the EU27 average in Bulgaria and 56% in Slovakia to 150% in Denmark and 141% in Finland; for meat from 48% in Bulgaria and 50% in Lithuania to 149% in Denmark and 133% in Sweden; and for milk, cheese and eggs from 67% in Poland and 75% in Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia to 139% in Cyprus and 138% in Greece.

Irish drinkers pay the price

The highest price levels for alcoholic beverages were registered in Ireland (181% of the EU27 average), Finland (170%), the United Kingdom (152%) and Sweden (145%), and the lowest in Bulgaria (69%), Slovakia (72%), Hungary (77%) and Lithuania (79%).

For tobacco the highest price levels were observed in the United Kingdom (205% of the EU27 average), Ireland (186%), France (133%), Germany and Sweden (both 119%), and the lowest in Latvia (28%), Lithuania (30%), Romania (32%) and Estonia (41%).