It will come as little surprise but Ireland’s price levels for all seven of the main categories of Food, Beverages and Tobacco were above the EU average in 2012.

The figures published by the Central Statistics Office today revealed that alcohol and tobacco prices were 62 per cent and 99 per cent above the EU average respectively.

Prices for meat, non-alcoholic beverages, bread and cereal, dairy products and eggs, and fruit and vegetables were also significantly higher than many other parts of the European Union.

Norway, and to a lesser extent Switzerland, which both sit outside the EU, tend to have the highest prices of the 37 countries surveyed in most of the seven categories, while prices were cheaper in Eastern Europe, particularly in the Balkan nations.

Ireland had the highest tobacco prices within the EU with prices at 99 per cent above average, five per cent above the UK. Meanwhile Finland was the only country which had a higher alcohol price than Ireland in the EU.

In the map below the red dots represent countries where prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages are at least 15 per cent above the European average.

Yellow dots denote countries with prices between 1 and 15 per cent above the EU average.

Green represents countries with prices set at between 0 and 20 per cent below average, while blue is for countries over 20 per cent below average. 

View Price level indices for Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages 2012 in a larger map