Cheap and expensive Member States
Within the Euro zone, Finland remains the cheapest country in terms of pre-tax prices
(average list prices are 6.7% below the Euro zone average), followed by Greece (as in the
previous year) and Slovenia. The new Member of the Euro zone, Slovakia, takes the fourth
place. Overall, Member States' relative price ranking within the Euro zone remains broadly
unchanged.
In the EU as a whole, the three Member States with currencies that devalued most
dramatically against the Euro became the cheapest countries: In the first place the UK (with
prices 19 % lower than in Finland, the least expensive Euro zone country), followed by
Sweden (10.3 % lower than in Finland) and Poland (8.3% lower than in Finland). It should be
noted that Denmark's currency did not devalue against the Euro in 2008. Therefore
Denmark, which used to be the cheapest country within the EU, now takes fifth place
regardless of the fact that its relative price position compared to the Euro zone remains
broadly unchanged.
Despite enjoying real price decreases, Germany remains the most expensive country in the
Euro zone and became the most expensive country in the EU (with prices 5.5% above the
Euro zone average), followed by France and Belgium which became the second and third
most expansive countries in both the Euro zone and the whole EU. The new position of
Germany and France as most expensive countries not only in the Euro zone but also within
the EU is explained by the fact that prices in formerly high price countries, namely the Czech
Republic and Slovakia, have converged to the middle ground.