Alcohol is most expensive in Finland, cheapest in Italy

Within the EU, alcohol is by far the most expensive in Finland and the cheapest in Italy. Non-alcoholic beverages are also cheapest in Italy and most expensive in Latvia, according to figures from the German Federal Statistical Office.

Big differences

In Italy, prices for alcoholic beverages—beer, wine, and spirits—were 19% lower than the average for European Union (EU) countries in October last year, according to a press release from the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Germany appears to be the second cheapest country, 14% below the European average. This may partly explain the country’s popularity with shoppers from neighboring Belgium, where alcohol prices are 13% above the EU average, and the Netherlands, where prices are roughly average.