UK 9th most expensive of 31 EU countries for consumer goods and services

British marketplace OnBuy.com has used recent figures from Eurostat to identify which EU countries are the most and the least expensive for consumer goods and services. In terms of overall cost of living in the EU, the most expensive countries are Iceland, Switzerland and Norway at 71.6%, 65.6% and 51.9% above the EU average respectively. The UK came 9th at 17.4% above the average. The least expensive are Bulgaria, Romania and Poland at 44%, 48.4% and 53.2% below the EU average respectively.

For all 11 categories considered, Iceland was top of this list for restaurants, furnishings and household equipment, hotels, transport, clothing and footwear, recreation and culture, with the price of alcoholic beverages and tobacco being 128% higher than the EU average. Food and non-alcoholic beverages are most expensive in Switzerland at 67.7% above the EU average.

The UK was fourth most expensive of the 31 EU member states for alcohol beverages and tobacco at 57.4% above the EU average, whilst housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, cost the UK 59.2% more. The cost of furnishings and household equipment for the UK is 4% above the EU average whilst the cost of education is 28% above it. Two categories where we do fall below the average are clothing and footwear at 88.3% and food and non-alcoholic beverages at 93%.