Your feedback can help us improve and enhance our services to the public. Tell us what matters to you in our online Customer Satisfaction Survey.
Purchasing Power Parities (PPP) surveys run by the CSO are funded by the European Union through annual grants administered by Eurostat.
For Non-Alcoholic Beverages, Ireland was the most expensive of the 36 European countries in 2024 with prices 40% higher than the EU27 average.
Food prices in Ireland were 12% above the EU27 average in 2024, making them the second most expensive in the Eurozone, and third most expensive in the EU27.
Ireland was the second most expensive country in both the Eurozone and EU27 for Alcoholic Beverages, with prices of alcohol in Ireland just under double the EU27 average in 2024.
Tobacco prices in Ireland were the most expensive of the 36 countries surveyed in 2024, at 159% higher than the EU27 average.
Ireland was the third most expensive country in the Eurozone for Bread & Cereals, the sixth most expensive country for Fruits, Vegetables, & Potatoes, the eighth most expensive for both Milk, Cheese & Eggs, and Fish, the ninth most expensive for Meat, and the twelfth most expensive for Oils & Fats.
This release focuses on the relative price levels of Food, Beverages & Tobacco in Ireland in 2024, compared with 35 other European countries. The results are extracted from more detailed statistics published by Eurostat on 19 June 2025:
The information is compiled from data collected as part of the Eurostat-OECD Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) programme, under which price data on Food, Beverages & Tobacco in 2024 was collected by 36 European national statistical offices. Information for Ireland was collected by the Central Statistics Office.
The countries included in the analysis, in 2024, were:
- the 27 Member States of the European Union (EU)
- the three European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries (Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland)
- the six candidate countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Turkiye).
In the 2024 Food, Beverages & Tobacco survey, prices were collected for 456 individual items covering the main broad categories including: Bread & Cereals; Meat; Fish; Milk, Cheese & Eggs; Oils & Fats; Fruits, Vegetables & Potatoes; Non-Alcoholic Beverages; Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco.
The results presented in this release are based on the price levels for a fixed basket of items. Each of the 36 countries collected prices for as many items as possible. Eurostat then combined the results to create the Price Level Indices, which provide a comparison of countries' price levels in 2024 with respect to the EU27 average (100). If the price level index is higher than 100, the country concerned was relatively more expensive in 2024 compared to the EU27 average, while on the other hand, if the price level index is lower than 100, then the country was less expensive compared to the EU27 average in 2024. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the official measure of inflation for Ireland and should be used to monitor the development of prices for Ireland while the European Union-Harmonised Indices of Consumer Prices (EU-HICP) allows the comparison of consumer price trends in the different Member States. See Background Notes for further details.
Table 1.1 summarises the main results with a particular focus on how Irish price levels compare with the other countries. Of the 36 countries, Ireland was the 6th most expensive for Food. When we look at the results in more detail in later chapters we will see that Ireland’s position varied from being the 20th most expensive for Oils & Fats to being the most expensive for Non-Alcoholic Beverages and for Tobacco. Of the 20 Eurozone countries, Ireland was 2nd most expensive for Food, behind Luxembourg.
For Non-Alcoholic Beverages, a category including coffee, tea, cocoa, mineral waters, soft drinks, concentrates, fruit juices and vegetable juices, Ireland was the most expensive of the 36 countries.
Of the European Union countries Ireland was the 2nd most expensive for Alcoholic Beverages and the most expensive for Tobacco and Non-Alcoholic Beverages. Of the 36 countries Ireland was the 5th most expensive for Alcohol and the most expensive for Tobacco and Non-Alcoholic Beverages.
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (23 July 2025) published Price Levels of Food, Beverages, and Tobacco 2024: How Ireland Compares. This release provides greater insight into price level comparisons for Ireland in 2024 with other European countries and the EU27 in particular. The analysis is based on statistics published by Eurostat on 19 June 2025 for 36 European countries.
Commenting on the results, Edel Flannery, Senior Statistician in the Prices Division, said: “Looking at how the price levels of Food, Beverages, and Tobacco in Ireland compared with other European countries in 2024, Ireland was the second most expensive country in the Eurozone and third most expensive of the 27 European Union (EU27) countries for Food, with prices 12% above the average for the EU27. Of the 36 countries surveyed, Food was the most expensive in Switzerland at 61% above the EU27 average, and the least expensive in North Macedonia at 27% below the EU27 average.
Looking at specific food categories, we can see that except for Meat, prices for the various types of foods in Ireland were all higher than the EU27 average in 2024. Prices for Breads & Cereals were 17% higher than the EU27 average, while Milk, Cheese & Eggs were 11% higher, Fruits, Vegetables & Potatoes were 9% higher, Oils & Fats were 6% higher, and Fish prices were 5% higher.
For Non-Alcoholic Beverages, Ireland was the most expensive of the 36 European countries in 2024 with prices 40% higher than the EU27 average, while North Macedonia was the least expensive with prices 22% below the EU27 average.
For Alcoholic Beverages, Ireland was the second most expensive country in the Eurozone in 2024, with prices just under double the EU27 average (98% higher). Of the 36 countries surveyed, Iceland had the highest prices of alcohol, at 185% above the EU27 average. Alcoholic Beverages were cheapest in Italy, at 16% below the EU27 average.
For Tobacco, Ireland was the most expensive of the 36 countries surveyed in 2024 with prices 159% higher than the EU27 average. Tobacco prices were lowest in Turkiye with prices 74% below the average for the EU27.”