Maltese consumers paid the highest prices in the entire European Union for consumer electronics in 2008, figures on price level indices published by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical arm, showed yesterday.
Maltese consumers are, in fact, paying 26 per cent more than the EU average for a basket of consumer electronic goods – so consumers thinking about buying a new MP3 player, laptop computer or digital camera from Malta would do well to pay a visit to the United Kingdom, where prices were found to be the lowest in the category at 17 per cent below the EU average.
But it is not only in the area of electronics in which Maltese consumers are getting something of a raw deal. They are also paying 23 per cent over the EU average for personal transport equipment – a category that includes cars, motorcycles and bicycles, where Malta is the third most expensive EU state – and 10 per cent more for clothing, where Malta is the ninth most expensive Member State.
And while the three areas stand out as particularly pricey for Maltese consumers, overall prices in Malta are actually 22 per cent below EU median prices.
The food and non-alcoholic beverages category, for instance, was given an index of 89, with 100 being the EU average, while restaurant and hotel prices were given an index of 84 and prices for alcoholic beverages and tobacco were placed very close to the EU average at 96.
Across the rest of the EU, price levels for consumer goods and services differed widely. Denmark (at 141 per cent of the EU average) had the highest price level, followed by Ireland (127 per cent) and Finland (125 per cent).
Price levels of 10 per cent to 20 per cent above the EU27 average were found in Luxembourg (116 per cent of the EU27 average), Sweden (114 per cent), Belgium and France (both 111 per cent), while Italy and Austria (both 105 per cent), Germany (104 per cent) and the Netherlands (103 per cent) were just above the average.
The United Kingdom (99 per cent of the EU27 average), Spain (96 per cent) and Greece (94 per cent) were just below the average, while Cyprus (90 per cent), Portugal (87 per cent) and Slovenia (83 per cent) were between 10 per cent and 20 per cent below. Price levels between 20 per cent and 30 per cent below the average were observed in Malta (78 per cent), Estonia (77 per cent), Latvia (75 per cent), the Czech Republic (72 per cent), Hungary and Slovakia (both 70 per cent). The lowest price levels were found in Bulgaria (51 per cent), Romania (62 per cent), Lithuania (67 per cent) and Poland (69 per cent).
Price levels for food and non-alcoholic beverages in 2008 ranged from 67 per cent of the EU average in Bulgaria to 147 per cent of the average in Denmark. Among the Member States, differences in price levels were smaller for this product group than for total goods and services. For alcoholic beverages and tobacco, prices were lowest in Romania (61 per cent of the average) and highest in Ireland (184 per cent). This large price variation is mainly due to differences in taxation of these products among Member States.
Clothing is one of the groups of products showing the smallest price variation among Member States. The United Kingdom (83 per cent of the average) was cheapest and Finland (123 per cent of the average) was most expensive for clothing.
Consumer electronics is another group of products where prices differed less among Member States. The lowest prices for these products were found in the United Kingdom (86 per cent of the average) and the highest in Malta (126 per cent). Excluding Denmark, price differences among Member States were also limited for personal transport equipment. Price levels varied from 84 per cent of the EU27 average in Romania to 174 per cent of the average in Denmark and 125 per cent in Ireland.
For restaurants and hotels, price variations were more significant, with price levels ranging from 40 per cent of the average in Bulgaria to 151 per cent of the average in Denmark.