Bulgaria had the lowest price levels for consumer goods and services in the European Union in 2017, at 56 per cent below the EU average, statistics agency Eurostat said on August 24.

However, there is a change since the year 2000. In that year, Bulgaria, then not yet an EU member, also had the lowest prices, but at the time the figure was 68.5 per cent below the average for the EU.

Price levels for consumer goods and services differ widely among EU member states, Eurostat said.

Denmark and Luxembourg had the highest price levels in 2017 (both 41 per cent above the EU average), followed by Sweden (35 per cent above), Ireland (28 per cent above), Finland (23 per cent above) and the United Kingdom (17 per cent above), while the lowest price levels were recorded in Bulgaria (56 per cent below the EU average), Romania (52 per cent below), Poland (47 per cent below), Hungary (42 per cent below) and Lithuania (40 per cent below).

At a more detailed level, Denmark was the most expensive EU country in 2017 for "restaurants and hotels" (51 per cent above the EU average), "food" (50 per cent above), "recreation and culture" (48 per cent above), "transport (28 per cent above) and "household equipment" (20 per cent above).

Ireland was the most expensive member state for "alcoholic beverages and tobacco" (74 per cent above), Luxembourg for "housing, water, electricity and gas" (63 per cent above), Greece for "communications" (54 per cent above) and Sweden for "clothing and footwear" (34 per cent above), Eurostat said./IBNA