Ireland has been ranked as one of the most expensive European countries when it comes to alcohol and tobacco.
People in Ireland are paying a significantly higher price for alcohol and tobacco products, according to new research.
It comes from the EU’s statistical office Eurostat, which has just released data on price levels for food, beverages and tobacco in 36 European countries last year.
Country groups included as part of the analysis were the 27 EU Member States and three EFTA (European Free Trade Association) countries (Iceland, Norway and Switzerland).
Also featured were five candidate countries (Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey) and one potential candidate country (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
Of the 36 countries, Ireland ranked as the most expensive in terms of tobacco, with prices 145% above the EU average in 2021.
Behind Ireland as the second and third most costly countries for tobacco were Norway, where prices were found to be 130% above the EU average, and France, where prices were 80% above.
Ireland was also the fourth most expensive country in regards to alcohol.
Eurostat states that prices for alcohol here last year were 101% above the European average.
The most expensive out of the 36 countries, meanwhile, was Iceland (with prices 186% above EU average), followed by Norway (161% above) and Finland (119% above).
The least costly country for tobacco was found to be Turkey, where prices were 74% below the EU average, according to Eurostat.
This was followed by North Macedonia (69% below EU average) and Albania (59% below).
The cheapest countries in terms of alcohol were North Macedonia (19% below), Hungary (17% below) and Austria (16% below).
For more on the EU statistics, visit Eurostat’s website here.
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