Midway in the European food price league
The highest prices are in non-EU countries such as Switzerland, Norway and Iceland.
The lowest are in Poland and other central and eastern European countries.
A Eurostat survey of average national prices for food, beverages and tobacco in 2006 revealed that people in Norway and Iceland pay nearly three and a half times more than people in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. They pay about 20% more than the Irish.
The gaps were particularly wide for meat, which is nearly four times dearer in Switzerland than in Lithuania.
The milk and cheese products and eggs category in the survey was more than twice as expensive in the rest of the 27 EU countries than in Eastern Europe.
When tobacco is omitted, within the EU, food and drinks cost two and a half times more in Denmark than in Bulgaria.
Cypriots and Greeks pay nearly 40% more than the EU-27 average for milk and cheese.
At the other end of the scale, dairy products in Norway are 60% higher than the EU-27 average, and 93% higher than prices in Poland.
The Eurostat survey, carried out last month, compared the cost of food, beverages and tobacco in 37 countries in 2006.
The cheapest tobacco and alcohol were found in Montenegro and Macedonia, respectively. The most expensive were in Norway.
Ireland was the dearest for alcohol. Britain was dearest for tobacco.
