Price levels for consumer goods and services differs widely across the EU: Denmark and Ireland (both 140% of the EU average) had the highest price levels, followed by Luxembourg (132%), Sweden (128%) and Finland (126%). The lowest price levels were in Poland (60%), Romania and Bulgaria (both 56%).
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**Widest price gaps for restaurants & hotels and for alcohol & tobacco**
In 2021, the price level for restaurants & hotels was almost 3.4 times higher in the most expensive country than in the cheapest one. Price levels ranged from 46% of the EU average in Bulgaria, 54% in Romania and 62% in Hungary, to 155% of the average in Denmark, 137% in Sweden and 133% in Finland.
Alcohol & tobacco ranked second in terms of price level difference, with the lowest price levels registered in Bulgaria (64% of the EU average), Poland (72%) and Hungary (79%) and the highest in Ireland (205%), Finland (173%), Sweden (136%) and Denmark and France (both 134%). This large price variation is mainly due to differences in taxation of these products.
Food & non-alcoholic beverages were cheapest in Romania (69% of the EU average) and Poland (72%), while they were most expensive in Luxembourg (125% of the average), Denmark (120%) and Ireland (119%).
Clothing is a group of products where prices differed less among the Member States, ranging from 76% of the average in Bulgaria to 134% in Denmark.
Personal transport equipment also recorded a smaller price disparity among Member States, with Poland (81% of the EU average) cheapest and Denmark (138%) most expensive. Price differences were also limited for consumer electronics, from 88% of the average in Poland to 113% in the Netherlands.
Compare it to median income, also with GDP per capita
Can confirm that my quality of life went way up when I moved back from The Netherlands to Estonia due to the lower cost of living. Even though my gross salary was slightly higher there, my net salary was basically the same, and I could easily start saving a pretty high proportion of my income due to lower living costs. Of course, now with EU topping 20% inflation we are catching up with Western Europe quite fast in that regard.