The prices of the typical household basket in Greek supermarkets continue to be lower than in France, England, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Romania, according to the Consumer Goods Retail Research Institute (IELKA).

IELKA presents the results of an organized price comparison survey (based on data from price comparison platforms in each country, but also on pricing from supermarket chains) on a typical basket of products of the household of the organized food retail trade (supermarket) in Greece in September 2025 and respectively in France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Germany and Romania.

The price comparison is made with and without the value of VAT, which differs in each country. For the present analysis, prices were compared in a total of 40 product categories. These product categories are examined from a significant sample of over 6,000 product prices and 44 different supermarket chains in the eight countries, in total, to calculate the average prices, with sampling from valid price comparison sites in Greece and abroad, but also from supermarket chains.

The figures include final prices of both branded and private label products in each country. It is clarified that the prices refer only to supermarket chains and not to other points of sale.

The comparison of average basket prices shows that the rest of the countries also have a significantly more expensive average basket than Greece, 33% Germany, 30% France, 10% United Kingdom, 15% Italy, 12% Spain, 15% Romania and 1% Portugal.

The picture of the results changes significantly when we remove the relevant VAT per country to understand the real prices of supermarket products.

Comparing the baskets in this case shows that all seven countries have a more expensive average basket than Greece, Germany by 39%, France by 38%, the UK by 22%, Italy by 22%, Spain by 18%, Portugal by 4% and Romania by 17%.

This is a result of the difference in the low VAT per country (this is the VAT referred to food and drinks). In Greece this VAT is 13%. VAT is significantly higher than the UK (0% and 5%) and France (10% and 5.5%), Spain (10% and 4%), Portugal (13% and 6%), Italy (10% and 4%), Germany (7%) and Romania (11% and 5%), but also most EU countries.

The main difference is that food which in Greece is subject to even the medium VAT rate of 13%, in the rest of the countries is subject to the low VAT rate, which is even lower than the Greek rate of 6%, 5.5%, 4% or even 0%. Few products are in the low VAT in Greece and the high in the other countries (e.g. baby wipes). It is noted that the effect of special consumption taxes (e.g. coffee) cannot be included in the above figures.

According to IELKA, the general conclusion reached is that the organized Greek food retail trade (supermarkets) provides Greek consumers with access to products for their standard basket at -on average- lower prices which are the result of the organized effort of suppliers and retailers to contain prices in recent years.

This trend with small fluctuations is timeless in the last 12 years, when the specific research is carried out by IELKA. The price comparison with abroad shows that in recent years Greece has consistently had a cheaper standard basket than the compared countries with some variations which do not change the general conclusion of the analysis.