'Rip-off Britain' still hitting consumers

Consumers in the UK have long known that prices there for many everyday items, including food, were more expensive than elsewhere in Europe, prompting many to dub the country 'Rip-off Britain'.

But the latest survey, carried out by Pricerunner Research, shows that the UK is in fact the most expensive country in the EU, and that only Norway is more expensive in the whole of western Europe.

Pricerunner looked at the average price of a basket of 12 staple products each costing less than €8, including several food items (Mars bar, Coca-Cola, potatoes, tomatoes, milk, McFlurry and McChicken) but also a handful of everyday non-food items (for example, Marlboro Lights, newspaper, cinema ticket, bus ticket and petrol). Prices in 13 EU and non-EU countries were assessed by Pricerunner.

There were vast differences in price across the Continent, with Norway the most expensive country and Portugal the cheapest - the baskets cost €43.71 and €17.89 respectively there - but the UK was the most expensive EU country, with the 29 items costing €37.76, some 111 per cent more than in Portugal.

The other Nordic countries were also among the most expensive, with Finland in fourth place (€31.03) and Sweden in fifth (€29.67). Switzerland, the only other non-EU country on the list, was third with a basket cost of €33.46, still some 12.8 per cent cheaper than the UK.

There was also a definite north/south divide, with France (€27.67), the Netherlands (€25.77), Belgium (€24.79), Luxembourg (€24.73) and Germany (€24.59) all more expensive than their southern neighbours (Greece with €21.25, Spain with €20.31 and Portugal). Ireland, Italy, Denmark and Austria were not included in the assessment.

"The survey reveals vast price differences across Europe and really shows 'rip off Britain' at its worst, as the UK has the highest prices in the whole of the EU,"​ said Kristofer Arwin, founder and CEO of Pricerunner.

What it also shows is that the single currency has yet to have much of an impact on the harmonisation of prices across the euro-zone, although there does seem to be some correlation between prices in neighbouring countries - both Spain and Portugal have the lowest prices, and the Benelux countries all have similar priced baskets.

At the same time, Finland, the most isolated country in the euro-zone, has the highest prices - though still considerably lower than all the other countries which are not in the single currency, apart from Sweden where prices are perhaps affected by the proximity to other countries such as Denmark or Germany.

The assessment was carried out using price data from 16-22 September with prices converted to euros according to the European Central Bank's rate on 18 September.