Irish food and drink prices 30% higher than EU average

Scofflaw

Another reminder about how much extra we're paying:

In 2009, Denmark had the highest prices in the EU for food and non-alcoholic drinks, with Ireland's prices in second-highest place. Figures out from Eurostat today, the EU's statistical service, show that the top three countries were Denmark, Ireland and Finland, in that order.

Denmark's prices were nearly 40% above the EU average while prices in Ireland were almost 30% higher.

Country|Food and non-alcoholic beverages|Bread and cereals| Meat|Milk, cheese and eggs|Alcoholic beverages|Tobacco
EU27|100| 100| 100| 100| 100| 100
Belgium|115| 116| 121| 122| 101| 108
Bulgaria|68|52|59|92|77|46
Czech Republic|75|69|69|82|89|75
Denmark|139| 146| 131| 115| 135| 117
Germany|111| 110| 126| 92|91|119
Estonia|80|78|70|86|106| 58
Ireland|129| 132| 121| 137| 167| 217
Greece|101| 117| 95|132| 105| 72
Spain| 97|111| 86|105| 84|73
France|110| 113| 122| 104| 95|133
Italy| 108| 103| 112| 124| 113| 104
Cyprus|108| 116| 90|137| 119| 88
Latvia|85|81|75|89|118| 62|
Lithuania| 74|78|63|77|99|51|
Luxembourg|117| 123| 117| 120| 96|88
Hungary|79|71|72|89|84|51|
Malta| 93|84|75|113| 98|94|
Netherlands| 98|99|115| 93|99|111
Austria|116| 126| 128| 100| 95|97
Poland|64|58|56|63|89|52
Portugal|92|106| 80|111| 86|85
Romania|66|61|58|93|70|47
Slovenia|96|101| 91|101| 102| 65
Slovakia|81|78|68|92|97|73
Finland|120| 128| 120| 111| 170| 110
Sweden|104| 114| 107| 90|138| 130
United Kingdom|97|84|102| 95|117| 166
Croatia|94|99|87|96|110| 67|
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia| 52|48|51|60|69|30
Turkey|77|68|71|100| 161| 52|
Iceland|104| 129| 99|91|168| 115
Norway|154| 145| 162| 169| 234| 219
Switzerland| 141| 138| 197| 121| 113| 104
Albania|72|62|64|90|92|33|
Bosnia-Herzegovina|77|68|77|79|97|33
Montenegro|79|69|76|82|95|30
Serbia|70|61|66|81|90|30

Brief report is available from Eurostat.

[EDIT]Fixed column labels - courtesy of enda1[/EDIT]

cordially,
Scofflaw

Mr. Presentable

Are the figures inclusive of taxes across the board?

Cookie_Monster

Macedonia here I come!

Scofflaw

nipplenuts wrote: »

Are the figures inclusive of taxes across the board?

They're prices to consumers, so I presume so.

cordially,
Scofflaw

average_runner

And does this survey take into the account on what a standard wage is in Macedonia compare to Ireland?

Also fair play to us for having sugary items at a higher price and tobacco!

eightyfish

Scofflaw wrote: »

Another reminder about how much extra we're paying

Figures out from Eurostat today, the EU's statistical service, show that the top three countries were Denmark, Ireland and Finland, in that order.

Also from eurostat: Ireland has the second highest miminum wage in Europe. Cause and effect.

Tipp Man

The most shocking column there is the milk, cheese and the meat

Ireland has some of the best dairy producing conditions in the world and the price paid to farmers per litre of milk is the cheapest (or most certainly 1 of) in the EU, the same applies to beef where the factory price per kg can be anything from 20 cent to 50 cent less per kg than most continental countries

Now if we can produce it (in very large quantities relative to population) cheaper than most countries, how are we being so robbed as consumers? The supermarkets are a huge problem in this country and the sooner something is done about them the better for all concerned

Tipp Man

eightyfish wrote: »

Also from eurostat: Ireland has the second highest miminum wage in Europe. Cause and effect.

Well thats it in a nutshell isn't it

Between minimum wages, energy prices and ridiulous employment laws we have no chance of ever getting anything even remotely resembling competitivness back

The common theme of course in these costs is the government

average_runner

Problem is supermarket gets the cheap rubbish meat in, sell it cheaper than the butcher's quality stuff and us stupid Irish falls for it, hence we are getting rid of our great butchers and eating crap meat!!

eightyfish

Tipp Man wrote: »

The supermarkets are a huge problem in this country and the sooner something is done about them the better for all concerned

I don't actually think it's the supermarkets. I think it's the middle-men in between the farmers and the supermarkets - the people who pasteurise, process, package and distribute. All of these people need to be paid. It's the whole supply chain. To blame only supermarkets is simplistic.

Plus, how do you know the price paid to farmers is the cheapest (or one of) in Europe? I seriously doubt that looking at the minimum wage data.

average_runner

Because we want higher wages, then we have to pay higher for goods.

Cant have it both ways!

dean21

So the private sector greed is still going on. Now there is a surprise
And then they wonder why wages are so high
Those people have no shame with what they have done and are still doing to Irish people, there are just as bad as what the banks are doing with interest rates

Scofflaw

Of course, this may have something to do with it - GDP per inhabitant in PPS, 2009, EU27 = 100:

Country | GDP/capita
Luxembourg3 | 268
Ireland | 131
Netherlands | 130
Austria | 124
Sweden | 120
Denmark | 117
United Kingdom | 117
Germany | 116
Belgium | 115
Finland | 110
France | 107
Spain | 103
Italy | 102
EU27 | 100
Cyprus | 98
Greece | 95
Slovenia | 86
Czech Republic | 80
Malta | 78
Portugal | 78
Slovakia | 72
Croatia | 64
Hungary | 63
Estonia | 62
Poland | 61
Lithuania | 53
Latvia | 49
Turkey | 46
Romania | 45
Montenegro4 | 43
Bulgaria | 41
Serbia | 37
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia | 35
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 30
Albania | 27


Notes on the above:

1.
1. The figures are based on the latest GDP data for 2009 and the most recent PPPs available. Revised estimates will be published in December 2010.

2. The Purchasing Power Standard (PPS) is an artificial reference currency unit that eliminates price level differences between countries. One PPS buys the same volume of goods and services in all countries. This unit allows meaningful volume comparisons of economic indicators across countries. Aggregates expressed in PPS are derived by dividing aggregates in current prices and national currency by the respective Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). The level of uncertainty associated with the basic price and national accounts data, and the methods used for compiling PPPs imply that differences between countries that have indexes within a close range should be interpreted with care.

3. The high level of GDP per inhabitant in Luxembourg is partly due to the large share of cross-border workers in total employment. While contributing to GDP,

cordially,
Scofflaw

eightyfish

dean21 wrote: »

So the private sector greed is still going on. Now there is a surprise
And then they wonder why wages are so high

That does not make any sense. The minimum wage is set by the government.

enda1

At a quick glance there must be something very wrong.

I looked at Belgium v Ireland and it gives the same score - 121 - for tobacco in Belgium and Ireland.

I don't smoke but I know Belgium to be very cheap for cigarettes, like €5 or something for 20.

Tipp Man

eightyfish wrote: »

I don't actually think it's the supermarkets. I think it's the middle-men in between the farmers and the supermarkets - the people who pasteurise, process, package and distribute. All of these people need to be paid. It's the whole supply chain. To blame only supermarkets is simplistic.

Plus, how do you you the price paid to farmers is the cheapest (or one of) in Europe? I seriously doubt that looking at the minimum wage data.

What does the minimum wage have to do with the price of milk/beef paid to farmers? Its funny that last year Glanbia, Ireland biggest milk processor and a large player by any standards, lost money on its Irish operation. So in 2009 farmers lost money producing milk, Glanbia lost money processing it, did Tesco's loose money selling it and did it cost you less in Tescos?


Anyway take a look at the rolling 12 month average milk price in the most right hand colum of page 1
http://www.milkprices.nl/reviews/pdf/eng201004.pdf

enda1

Scofflaw wrote: »

Another reminder about how much extra we're paying:



Country|Food and non-alcoholic beverages|Alcoholic beverages| Tobacco |Bread and cereals| Meat|Milk, cheese and eggs
EU27|100| 100| 100| 100| 100| 100
Belgium|115| 116| 121| 122| 101| 108
Bulgaria|68|52|59|92|77|46
Czech Republic|75|69|69|82|89|75
Denmark|139| 146| 131| 115| 135| 117
Germany|111| 110| 126| 92|91|119
Estonia|80|78|70|86|106| 58
Ireland|129| 132| 121| 137| 167| 217
Greece|101| 117| 95|132| 105| 72
Spain| 97|111| 86|105| 84|73
France|110| 113| 122| 104| 95|133
Italy| 108| 103| 112| 124| 113| 104
Cyprus|108| 116| 90|137| 119| 88
Latvia|85|81|75|89|118| 62|
Lithuania| 74|78|63|77|99|51|
Luxembourg|117| 123| 117| 120| 96|88
Hungary|79|71|72|89|84|51|
Malta| 93|84|75|113| 98|94|
Netherlands| 98|99|115| 93|99|111
Austria|116| 126| 128| 100| 95|97
Poland|64|58|56|63|89|52
Portugal|92|106| 80|111| 86|85
Romania|66|61|58|93|70|47
Slovenia|96|101| 91|101| 102| 65
Slovakia|81|78|68|92|97|73
Finland|120| 128| 120| 111| 170| 110
Sweden|104| 114| 107| 90|138| 130
United Kingdom|97|84|102| 95|117| 166
Croatia|94|99|87|96|110| 67|
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia| 52|48|51|60|69|30
Turkey|77|68|71|100| 161| 52|
Iceland|104| 129| 99|91|168| 115
Norway|154| 145| 162| 169| 234| 219
Switzerland| 141| 138| 197| 121| 113| 104
Albania|72|62|64|90|92|33|
Bosnia-Herzegovina|77|68|77|79|97|33
Montenegro|79|69|76|82|95|30
Serbia|70|61|66|81|90|30

Brief report is available from Eurostat.

cordially,
Scofflaw

COLUMN LABELS ARE ALL MIXED UP!!

enda1

Should be...


Country|Food and non-alcoholic beverages|Bread and cereals| Meat|Milk, cheese and eggs|Alcoholic beverages|Tobacco
EU27|100| 100| 100| 100| 100| 100
Belgium|115| 116| 121| 122| 101| 108
Bulgaria|68|52|59|92|77|46
Czech Republic|75|69|69|82|89|75
Denmark|139| 146| 131| 115| 135| 117
Germany|111| 110| 126| 92|91|119
Estonia|80|78|70|86|106| 58
Ireland|129| 132| 121| 137| 167| 217
Greece|101| 117| 95|132| 105| 72
Spain| 97|111| 86|105| 84|73
France|110| 113| 122| 104| 95|133
Italy| 108| 103| 112| 124| 113| 104
Cyprus|108| 116| 90|137| 119| 88
Latvia|85|81|75|89|118| 62|
Lithuania| 74|78|63|77|99|51|
Luxembourg|117| 123| 117| 120| 96|88
Hungary|79|71|72|89|84|51|
Malta| 93|84|75|113| 98|94|
Netherlands| 98|99|115| 93|99|111
Austria|116| 126| 128| 100| 95|97
Poland|64|58|56|63|89|52
Portugal|92|106| 80|111| 86|85
Romania|66|61|58|93|70|47
Slovenia|96|101| 91|101| 102| 65
Slovakia|81|78|68|92|97|73
Finland|120| 128| 120| 111| 170| 110
Sweden|104| 114| 107| 90|138| 130
United Kingdom|97|84|102| 95|117| 166
Croatia|94|99|87|96|110| 67|
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia| 52|48|51|60|69|30
Turkey|77|68|71|100| 161| 52|
Iceland|104| 129| 99|91|168| 115
Norway|154| 145| 162| 169| 234| 219
Switzerland| 141| 138| 197| 121| 113| 104
Albania|72|62|64|90|92|33|
Bosnia-Herzegovina|77|68|77|79|97|33
Montenegro|79|69|76|82|95|30
Serbia|70|61|66|81|90|30

eightyfish

Tipp Man wrote: »

What does the minimum wage have to do with the price of milk/beef paid to farmers?

It has to do with the cost of processing the milk after the farmers produce it. The Irish GDP and min wage both second-highest in Europe. I don't believe, therefore, that the price paid to farmers for raw cow's milk in Ireland is one of the lowest in Europe. If you're going to say that you need to provide some evidence to back it up.

The link you provided shows that the Glanbia milk price is higher than the EU average.

Nijmegen

Tipp Man wrote: »

What does the minimum wage have to do with the price of milk/beef paid to farmers?

For a piece of meat to land in your shopping basket it needs to be grown, fed, slaughtered, processed and packaged and brought to the shelf.

In that process you have drivers of trucks (that have mechanics and admin staff) and you have people working in the factories and people stacking the shelves, all on wages linked to min wage (if I earn 10% more than min wage and min wage goes up 5%, I want a 5%+ pay increase). Same for the production of the feed that the animals eat.

Everything is linked to everything, and the minimum wage is the biggest artificial driver of costs in the economy of any, because everything is affected by it.

eightyfish

In summary we have:

• Irish GDP top 3 in Europe
• Irish minimum wage top 3 in Europe
• Irish gorcery prices top 3 in Europe

IE this is a non-story.

Nijmegen

eightyfish wrote: »

In summary we have:

• Irish GDP top 3 in Europe
• Irish minimum wage top 3 in Europe
• Irish gorcery prices top 3 in Europe

IE this is a non-story.

Except, our GDP is largely built on foreign direct investment, jobs that can ship back out again to the lowest cost economy in a container ship. Hello high costs, bye bye FDI, bye bye GDP.

Tipp Man

eightyfish wrote: »

It has to do with the cost of processing the milk after the farmers produce it. The Irish GDP and min wage both second-highest in Europe. I don't believe, therefore, that the price paid to farmers for raw cow's milk in Ireland is one of the lowest in Europe. If you're going to say that you need to provide some evidence to back it up.

The link you provided shows that the Glanbia milk price is higher than the EU average.

I have provided the back up if you cared to read it properly. You have only looked at the last month's milk price which can vary greatly according to many factors. The rolling 12 month average price paid by Glanbia and Kerry respectively is 23.62 cpl and 23.56cpl. The EU 12 month rolling average is 27.17cpl. All from the link I provided earlier. So about 13% lower than the EU average

The supermarkets are robbing the people of this country blind, be they producers, suppliers or consumers

Tipp Man

Nijmegen wrote: »

For a piece of meat to land in your shopping basket it needs to be grown, fed, slaughtered, processed and packaged and brought to the shelf.

In that process you have drivers of trucks (that have mechanics and admin staff) and you have people working in the factories and people stacking the shelves, all on wages linked to min wage (if I earn 10% more than min wage and min wage goes up 5%, I want a 5%+ pay increase). Same for the production of the feed that the animals eat.

Everything is linked to everything, and the minimum wage is the biggest artificial driver of costs in the economy of any, because everything is affected by it.

I agree completly that the minimum wage is a ridiculous burden in this country

I agree with everything you have said above but I was trying to point out a subtle difference which exists between the price paid to the farmer and the price paid by the consumer. for instance between 2007 and 2009 the price of milk paid to farmers went from 39 cpl to 22cpl (or thereabouts) so a 40% fall in price for the basic raw commodity. Did the price of milk fall by 40% in the shops in that period? Did it even fall at all? Milk processors lost money in 2009 so where was the additional profit absorbed? My point is the supermarkets are cleaning up in an unregulated and uncontrolled market.

There is a reason why none of them make any detailed accounts publicly available

eightyfish

Tipp Man wrote: »

I have provided the back up if you cared to read it properly. You have only looked at the last month's milk price which can vary greatly according to many factors. The rolling 12 month average price paid by Glanbia and Kerry respectively is 23.62 cpl and 23.56cpl. The EU 12 month rolling average is 27.17cpl. All from the link I provided earlier. So about 13% lower than the EU average

Fair enough. I see that data now. This is the price glenbia charge. I'd like to see data on raw cow's milk prices for Ireland. (IE what farmers get paid)

Tipp Man wrote: »

The supermarkets are robbing the people of this country blind, be they producers, suppliers or consumers

So you're saying the supermarkets are robbing the consumers, suppliers and farmers blind because our retail prices for milk are high? It's all just the supermarkets. Never mind that ever single person in the supply chain from post-farmer to your kitchen shelf has to be paid more than in any other country in Europe (except Lux)? It's all the supermarket's fault?

Tipp Man

eightyfish wrote: »

Fair enough. I see that data now. This is the price glenbia charge. I'd like to see data on raw cow's milk prices for Ireland. (IE what farmers get paid)

No this is the price Glanbia pay to farmers for "raw cow's milk"

eightyfish

Tipp Man wrote: »

No this is the price Glanbia pay to farmers for "raw cow's milk"

Okay.

What does this mean?

"IRELAND- Glenbia and Kerry increased the fat and protein prices in April. Therefore the Milk prices increased compared to previous month"

OMD

Tipp Man wrote: »

. Did the price of milk fall by 40% in the shops in that period? Did it even fall at all?

Yes. Milk has dropped massively in price inthe last 2 years. I cannot think of anything I buy on a regular basis that has fallen more.

gurramok

Its a pity Irish GDP is heavily distorted unlike most other countries. If only there was a GNP comparison

silverharp

so our grubby little economy ensures that low wage earners are snookered when it come to the essentials of life. So whats going on, excessive red tape when trying to operate a business here? meanwhile over the weekend I had to endure a painful discussion on radio 1 on how Limerick deserves special help and government intervention to "create " jobs there. Seriously the cargo cults in New Guinea had a better grasp of how the world works. Maybe I need to get a "Paddy frum" cult going, they could dress up as estate agents and go around valuing properties in up and coming areas at several hundred thousand.



http://www.rte.ie/business/2010/0628/food.html

reland has the second highest food and drink prices in the European Union. New figures from Eurostat, the EU statistics agency, show Irish prices were 29% higher than the EU average.

By contrast British prices were 3% below the EU average. Denmark had the highest prices, almost 40% above the EU average.

Ireland recorded the highest prices in Europe for dairy produce such as milk and cheese - 37% above the average. UK dairy produce was 5% below the average price.

Ireland - which has claimed to be the biggest meat exporter in the northern hemisphere - had the fifth highest meat prices of the 27 countries surveyed. Consumers here paid 20% more than the EU average for meat.

Consumers in Britain - a major market for Irish beef exports - paid just 2% more than the EU average for their meat.

Ireland is also one of the most expensive places in Europe to buy your daily bread, with bread and cereal prices here at 32% higher than the average. British bread is 16% lower than the average

Alcohol prices in Ireland were 67% higher than the EU average - second only to Finland, where prices were found to be 70% above the average.

Alcohol prices are largely determined by the level of taxes and excise which governments apply to the product. The same is true of tobacco products.

Irish tobacco prices - at 217% of the average - were the most expensive in the EU. The lowest tobacco prices were found in Bulgaria, which was 46% of the average.

Overall the dearest countries to buy food and drink are Denmark, Ireland, Finland, Luxembourg and Belgium. Bulgaria, Romania and Poland are the cheapest.

thebaldsoprano

Tipp Man wrote: »

The common theme of course in these costs is the government

I'd hazard a guess that the common theme is ourselves. Despite some price cuts from the likes of Tescos, Dunnes etc there are still huge differences between them and LIDL/ADLI for groceries that are often just as good quality.

Take the tamato puree I used for dinner last night. All it is is tomatos and salt, yet it is over four times more expensive in Dunnes compared to LIDL. While this is a bit extreme, differences of 30 - 50% aren't at all hard to find.

Harney's approach of telling people to shop around was bang on the mark, maybe the Government should follow their own advice and shop around for passport services and the like