Where Your Salary Stretches Furthest in Europe

When weighing a job offer in another EU country, gross salary is only part of the calculation. Prices for food, transport, energy, and everyday services can differ sharply from one country to the next - meaning the same salary figure buys very different amounts depending on where you live.

Eurostat measures these differences through price level indices, based on surveys of more than 2,000 goods and services across 36 European countries. An index of 100 represents the EU average: countries above 100 are more expensive than the average, and those below 100 are cheaper.

The Most Affordable Countries in the EU

Bulgaria had the lowest price level among EU member states in 2025, at 37% below the EU average. It also recorded the lowest prices in the EU for clothing, footwear, alcoholic beverages and tobacco, transport services, and restaurants and hotels.

Romania is the least expensive EU country for food and non-alcoholic beverages - a category that accounts for 17% of average household spending - and also records the lowest communication prices among EU member states. Hungary has the lowest energy prices in the EU, covering electricity, gas, and other domestic fuels, which represent 5% of average household expenditure. Slovakia has the lowest price level for personal transport equipment among EU countries.

The Most Expensive Countries in the EU

Denmark is the most expensive EU member state overall, with prices 40% above the EU average in 2025. It also has the highest price levels in the EU for clothing, footwear, household appliances, personal transport equipment (a category where high taxation on cars is a contributing factor, according to Eurostat), transport services, and restaurants and hotels. Restaurants and hotels alone account for 10% of average household spending.

Luxembourg is the most expensive EU country for food and non-alcoholic beverages. Ireland tops the list for alcoholic beverages and tobacco. Belgium has the highest prices for communication services, France has the highest price level for information and communication equipment, and Malta is the most expensive for furniture and furnishings.

How Different Spending Categories Compare

Not all spending categories show the same degree of price variation across Europe.

Services tend to show larger differences than goods because, according to Eurostat, they involve a higher share of labour input, and wages are dispersed widely across countries. Restaurants and hotels and transport services both reflect this pattern, with significant gaps between the cheapest and most expensive EU countries.

Energy - electricity, gas, and other domestic fuels - also varies considerably. Germany is the most expensive EU country for energy and Hungary the least expensive. Alcoholic beverages and tobacco show the highest price dispersion of any category, largely due to large differences in taxation on these products across participating countries.

For information and communication equipment - laptops, smartphones, and similar items - price differences across EU countries are comparatively small, according to Eurostat.

Comparing Job Offers Across Borders

Price level indices give a practical reference point when evaluating salaries across EU countries. An offer that looks lower on paper in Bulgaria or Romania may provide similar or greater purchasing power than a higher gross figure in Denmark or Luxembourg, once local costs are taken into account.

The data covers 36 countries - the 27 EU member states, 3 EFTA countries, and 6 candidate countries - and draws on surveys of more than 2,000 goods and services. Eurostat also notes a slight convergence in price levels across the EU between 2015 and 2025, meaning the gap between the cheapest and most expensive countries has narrowed over that period, though wide differences remain.

Source: Eurostat, Comparative price levels of consumer goods and services, 2025 data.