Which EU country is the most expensive to live in?

According to the Statistical Service of the European Union, the difference between the prices of services and consumer goods, including food, remains in 27 states of the Union.

Last year, the most expensive country was Ireland, where the cost of living was 46.4% higher than the EU average. It is followed by Denmark (+44.5%) and Luxembourg (+36.8%).

Among the large countries, Italy was the closest to the average, where the consumer basket is only 0.2% larger than the European average. Germany (+8.9%) and Spain (-3.5%) are also close to the arithmetic mean.

At the same time, Romania is among the cheapest countries, where you have to pay 42.2% less than the EU average, as well as Bulgaria (-41.3%) and Poland (-38.5%).

Denmark leads the European Union in terms of the cost of clothes and shoes, and in Bulgaria, they are the cheapest, as well as alcoholic beverages and tobacco products – according to the Eurostat report.

In 2022, the price difference for alcohol and cigarettes in the ranking increased by 3.3 times, which is primarily due to differences in taxation of these products. The second place is the cost of staying in hotels and going to restaurants – the difference is more than three times.

However, the continent’s most expensive and cheapest countries are not members of the European Union. In terms of cost of living, the leaders on the European continent are Switzerland (+74.3%), Iceland (+59%), and Norway (+42.9%), while the consumer basket in Turkey is 60% cheaper than the European average, and in North Macedonia – 49%.