Uneven prices in local market
Disproportionately high cost of food in Greece, although meat remains relatively cheaper
In Greece it is relatively cheaper to smoke and eat meat, while it is better to forget milk, cheese and eggs, as well as olive oil, despite the fact it is produced in large quantities in the country.
If you want to communicate with friends and relatives, it is better for your pocket to see them in person than to call them or make a video call.
Eurostat’s data on the level of prices for basic goods and services in the member-countries of the European Union lead to these conclusions. Data showing that Greece remains among the most expensive countries in basic goods and services, at the same time that it is now among the countries with the lowest purchasing power. Even if this last element is partly true, as it is based on declared incomes in a country with extensive tax evasion, it is also absolutely true that wages, after the devaluation that took place during the economic crisis, have not recovered to pre-memorandum levels.
Regarding food as a whole, whose high prices mainly affect low and middle-income households, prices in Greece were 5.5% higher than the EU average in 2022. In fact, the country is most expensive when it comes to the prices of milk, cheese and eggs, as in 2022 they were 38.9% above the EU average, with Greece, according to Eurostat, being the most expensive country in one of the most basic food categories.
In 2022 Greece was the second most expensive country after Malta in terms of the price of olive oil (overall in the oils and fats category), 23.7% above the European average. In Italy, where olive oil is largely of Greek origin, its price was 16.3% below the European average with the neighboring country being the cheapest in that category among the 27 states.
Prices were at very high levels in 2022 for non-alcoholic beverages, 20.4% above the European average, a category in which there have been revaluations in 2023 as well, even twice by the same companies. Even in 2024, the category is expected to be affected by price increases that are almost certain to occur in juice drinks, as the international price of orange juice – as a raw material – has doubled.
