Eurostat Shows Iceland 83.7% Above EU Prices and North Macedonia at €49.7 Basket Cost
Updated
Updated · Euronews · Jun 25
Eurostat Shows Iceland 83.7% Above EU Prices and North Macedonia at €49.7 Basket Cost
2 articles · Updated · Euronews · Jun 25
Summary
Eurostat’s latest price-level data puts Iceland as Europe’s most expensive country and North Macedonia as the cheapest, with the same EU-average €100 basket costing nearly 3.7 times more across the two extremes.
Luxembourg leads within the EU while Romania is cheapest, and prices in Luxembourg are 2.5 times Romania’s; among the bloc’s biggest economies, Germany is 9.1% above the EU average and Spain 8.9% below it.
Iceland’s prices are 83.7% above the EU average and Switzerland’s 81%, while Denmark, Ireland and Norway are all about 40% higher; North Macedonia, Turkey, Bosnia, Romania and Bulgaria are at least 40% cheaper.
Eurostat’s broader AIC measure includes publicly funded services such as healthcare and education, but economists say prices alone can mislead because wages and purchasing power determine how affordable those costs feel locally.
Researchers cited productivity-linked wage gaps as the main driver of price differences, with taxes, regulation, distance, distribution costs and borders adding to a pattern in which richer Western and Northern countries tend to be pricier.