Fish and bread cost more in Danish supermarkets than anywhere else in the EU, with general prices for food also higher than in any other EU country except Luxembourg.
The average price of food in Denmark is some way over the average for the EU, with Denmark behind only Luxembourg as the union’s most expensive country for buying food in 2024, new analysis from Statistics Denmark shows.
The analysis, based on Eurostat data, places Denmark at 19 percent above the average price for food in the 27 EU member countries.
Luxembourg is on its own as the only country more expensive than Denmark for daily goods, with food costing 26 percent over the EU average in the tiny state located between Belgium, France and Germany.
Denmark is the most expensive country bar none in a number of key food categories including bread, grain products and fish.
Fish costs 30 percent more in Denmark than the EU average, with bread and grain products as much as 36 percent more costly compared to the EU as a whole.
READ ALSO: Why can’t you get fresh fish in supermarkets in Denmark?
Several factors explain Denmark’s high food prices according to Tore Stramer, chief economist with the Danish Chamber of Commerce.
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“Denmark is known for its high standard of welfare, including a higher wage average than in many other EU countries,” Stramer told news wire RItzau in a written comment.
A high rate of 25 percent in VAT (moms in Danish) applies to food in Denmark, which contributes to the high prices, the economist noted.
Other EU countries near the top of the list of high food prices are Ireland, which is 12 percent over the average, and France, Austria and Malta, all at 11 percent.
At the cheap end of the scale, food costs 25 percent less in Romania than the average EU price, and in Slovakia it is 17 percent lower.
Outside of the EU, EFTA countries Norway, Iceland and Switzerland all have higher food prices than Denmark.
The most expensive of the three, Switzerland, is a full 61 percent above the EU average.