28th February 2022
The UK ranks as the 22nd most expensive country to purchase a weekly shop, with a standard shop averaging £13.94.
The most expensive country overall when it comes to a weekly shop is Switzerland, at an estimated cost of £35.81 per week. Switzerland is known for having a high cost of living. Meat, in particular, has a high cost in Switzerland, at £5.91 for 300g for chicken fillets and £3.87 for 100g of beef.
The most expensive country outside of Europe is South Korea, at an estimated weekly grocery cost of £26.61. The cost of living is especially high in major cities such as the capital, Seoul, with some of the most expensive items in a weekly shop being apples (£2.48 for 500g) and bananas (£1.51 for 600g).
Top 10 cheapest countries for groceries
|
Rank |
Country |
Total (GBP) |
|
1 |
Turkey |
£6.66 |
|
2 |
Colombia |
£7.22 |
|
3 |
Poland |
£9.19 |
|
4 |
Lithuania |
£10.02 |
|
5 |
Hungary |
£10.35 |
|
6 |
Latvia |
£10.73 |
|
7 |
Mexico |
£10.76 |
|
8 |
Estonia |
£10.91 |
|
9 |
Portugal |
£11.45 |
|
10 |
Slovakia |
£11.69 |
At the other end of the scale, the cheapest OECD country for groceries is Turkey, with an average weekly cost of just £6.66. Prices in Turkey are extremely low, with the cost of an average grocery basket coming in at over five times cheaper than that in the most expensive country, Switzerland.
The second cheapest country overall is Colombia, with an average weekly shop cost of £7.22. Amongst the cheapest items to buy in the country are cheese (£0.77 for 350g) and beef (£0.34 for 100g).
Further Study Insights:
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The least affordable country, once earnings are taken into account, is Mexico, where the average person spends £46.76 on food essentials. The average monthly income here is just over £1,000, meaning that groceries take up 4.65% of earnings, more than any other OECD country.
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On the other hand, the Netherlands is the most affordable country when it comes to buying groceries. Despite having a relatively high monthly cost of £72 for food essentials, it’s also one of the countries with high average earnings, which means that a month’s worth of groceries makes up just 1.97% of the average monthly income.
(The 'standard' basket contains: 1 litre of milk, 12 eggs, 350g of cheese, 500g of apples, 600g of bananas, 600g of oranges, 300g of tomatoes, 1kg of onions, 1 head of lettuce, 1 500g loaf of white bread, 250g of white rice, 1kg of potatoes, 300g of chicken fillet and 100g beef round).
You can view the full research by clicking here, and I have also provided a Dropbox folder with relevant images here.
I thought this might be of interest to you and your readers. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you need anything else, or if you have any questions - happy to help!