Denmark remains the most expensive country in the EU for purchasing consumer goods, national and EU statistics show.
Danish prices remain the highest of any EU country, a new analysis from Statistics Denmark based on Eurostat data revealed on Friday.
Denmark’s consumer price average in 2024 was 41 percent higher than the EU average.
Only non-EU member Switzerland and Iceland were found to have higher prices than Denmark, at 73 percent and 62 percent respectively over the EU average.
The EU analysis also shows that countries with high average prices also tend to have the highest GDP per member of the population.
For Denmark, the GDP per person is 29 percent over the average for the EU, behind only Luxembourg, which has a GDP per person 30 percent higher than the EU’s.
“The relatively high price level in countries with a high GDP per capita is linked to the fact that wages are also relatively high in those countries,” Statistics Denmark writes.
READ ALSO: Danish food prices up again despite inflation decline
The lowest consumer prices in the EU can be found in Bulgaria and Romania, where they were 40 and 36 percent respectively below the EU average in 2024.
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The latest report continues Denmark’s position as the most expensive EU country from 2023, when Danish prices were 45 percent over the EU average.
The Confederation of Danish Industry (DI)’s senior economist Allan Sørensen told news wire Ritzau that Denmark’s price levels vary significantly between different goods and services.
For instance, prices for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels are 70 per cent above the EU average, while food prices are 19 per cent higher than the average.
“It is our high level of prosperity and wages that lead to higher prices in Denmark than in the rest of the EU,” Sørensen said in a written comment.
For a small number of product categories, Denmark offers slightly cheaper prices than an average EU country. These include software as well as fruit and nuts, which are just below the EU average.