MILK, cheese and eggs in Cyprus are the most expensive in the EU, according to the latest Eurostat report clocking in at 141 per cent of the EU average of 100 per cent.
According to the report, released yesterday, the price of bread and cereals in Cyprus is 121 per cent of the EU average and alcohol 110 per cent of the average. Meat and tobacco prices on the island came in at 89 per cent and 82 per cent respectively of the average in the bloc.
The report said that in 2012, the price level of a comparable basket of food and non-alcoholic beverages was more than twice as high in the most expensive EU27 Member State than in the cheapest one.
Denmark had the highest price level for food and non-alcoholic beverages in the EU27 in 2012, at 143 per cent of the EU27 average, followed by Sweden (124 per cent), Austria (120 per cent), Finland (119 per cent), Ireland (118 per cent) and Luxembourg (116 per cent). The lowest price levels were observed in Poland (61 per cent), Romania (67 per cent), Bulgaria (68 per cent) and Lithuania (77 per cent). Cyprus’ total was 109 per cent of the average.
For bread and cereals, price levels ranged from 57 per cent of the EU27 average in Bulgaria to 159 per cent in Denmark; for meat from 55 per cent in Poland to 132 per cent in both Denmark and Austria.
For milk, cheese & eggs prices ranged from 63 per cent of the EU average in Poland to 141 per cent in Cyprus – the most expensive.
The price levels for alcoholic beverages ranged from one to more than two and a half. The lowest price levels for alcoholic beverages were registered in Bulgaria (67 per cent of the EU27 average), Romania (75 per cent), Hungary (79 per cent) and Germany (82 per cent), and the highest in Finland (175 per cent), Ireland (162 per cent), Sweden (161 per cent) and the United Kingdom (143 per cent).
For tobacco, the price levels were almost four times higher in the most expensive Member State than in the cheapest. The lowest price levels were observed in Hungary (52 per cent of the EU27 average), Lithuania (55 per cent), Bulgaria (57 per cent) and Poland (58 per cent), and the highest in Ireland (199 per cent), the United Kingdom (194 per cent), Sweden (132 per cent) and France (129 per cent).