Irish 'pay most' for alcohol, tobacco

Irish residents are paying 70 per cent more than the European Union average for alcohol and tobacco products, according to a study by statistics agency Eurostat.

Overall, people in Ireland are paying the fifth highest prices in the EU for consumer goods and services, with levels at their most expensive in Denmark and cheapest in Bulgaria.

On average, goods and services cost 18 per cent more here than in the UK. The largest differences between the two countries were in the prices of alcohol and tobacco (28 per cent more) and restaurants and hotel accommodation (26 per cent more).

Irish people are paying above EU average prices in four of the six categories, with both clothing and consumer electronics goods falling just below the 27 country average.

Irish residents face the second highest costs for food and non-alcoholic beverages, some 20 per cent more than the average, with Danish residents paying most and those in Romania and Bulgaria being charged just two thirds the EU average.

The cost of restaurants and hotels here was the joint third highest the EU, behind Denmark and Sweden and tied with Finland. Bulgarians paid 45 per cent of the EU average for these goods.

The cost of alcohol and tobacco products here was almost three times what people in Bulgaria and Romania pay, and 28 per cent higher than in the UK, which was found to have the second highest costs in the category.

“This large price variation is mainly due to differences in taxation of these products among member states,” Eurostat said.