Lithuanian groceries among cheapest in Europe, says Maxima survey

According to their comparison, the basket featuring 241 of the products most often purchased in Lithuania has become more expensive by 3 Euros over the last year. However, they do not believe that the introduction of the Euro is responsible.

Similar price fluctuations were observed in most of the countries observed in the comparison. Despite introducing a new currency, Lithuania remained the third least-expensive country in Europe to shop in, surpassed only by Poland and Bulgaria. The next countries after Lithuania were Austria and Spain. The most expensive countries included Great Britain as the most expensive, followed by Switzerland, Germany, Ireland and Italy.

According to the company’s announcement, the comparison involved the prices of both famous imported international brands as well as low-cost privately branded goods.

“We’ve been performing price comparison research across different countries throughout the continent for several years now in an effort to see and determine how the usual prices for everyday products in our country look in a European context,” said Maxima LT CEO Žydrūnas Valkeris. “This became especially relevant after the introduction of the Euro, when some residents feared that their favorite everyday products would become more expensive with the change in currency. Their fears were unfounded after all. In fact, when comparing the prices of almost 250 products, the price of the combined shopping basket in Lithuania rose by only 3 Euros, and the prices of many food products and consumables remained below the European average.”