Low Tobacco and Alcohol Prices in Spain
June 28th, 2010
According to Eurostat, the prices of tobacco and alcoholic drinks in Spain during 2009 were one of the lowest in the European Union. Taking the average price of alcohol in the European Union as 100 percent, the price of alcohol in Spain was 84 percent, the same as Hungary and only bettered by Bulgaria and Romania, with 77 and 70 percent, respectively. Compared with neighbouring countries, Spain is significantly cheaper, Portugal was closest at 86 percent, while France jumps to 95 percent and Italy was a whopping 113 percent.
With regards to tobacco, the most expensive country was Ireland, with a relative price of 217 percent, almost fivefold the level of the cheapest country, Bulgaria, at 46% of the EU average, followed closely by Romania (47%). Then there is a substantial rise to Spain, however the relative cost is still cheap at 73% of the European average, the same level as Finland, and despite several price increases last year. After Ireland, tobacco prices were highest in the United Kingdom (166%), France (133%) and Sweden (130%).
The report also revealed a comparison of general food and non-alcoholic drink prices in Europe, which showed that Denmark was the most expensive country, 40 percent above the European average. Meanwhile, Spain along with the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Slovenia, Malta and Portugal all experienced prices up to 10% below the average. Although certain specific food products were still relatively costly in Spain, the price of bread and cereals (111%) and that of milk, cheese and eggs (105%) were all above the European average. Meanwhile, Denmark, Ireland and Cyprus were shown to be the most expensive countries for these goods, up to 46 percent above the average.
