Food Prices Around The World - Interesting Trends and Surprising Statistics

Food Prices Around the World: Interesting Trends and Surprising Statistics - Commodity.
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Food Prices Around the

World: Interesting
Trends and Surprising
Statistics
An in-depth look at how restaurant and grocery
prices are rising or falling in cities and countries
across the globe.
Last Updated: February 23, 2021
https://commodity.com/blog/food-prices/ Page 1 of 22
Food Prices Around the World: Interesting Trends and Surprising Statistics - Commodity.com 14/03/2021, 15:58
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What we call “agricultural commodities” are one of two things:

staple crops and/or animals. They’re essentially the source of food
for both people and animals across the globe, though it also
includes things like lumber to make furniture or rubber from rubber
trees.
Needless to say, it’s an incredibly important market. In no uncertain

terms, every living being depends on the agricultural industry.
“So what’s the agricultural industry up to lately?“, you may ask.

And how is the current pandemic affecting food prices? It depends
on which country you’re asking the question.
Certain countries and cities have seen grocery prices skyrocket,

while new “foodie cities” pop up (along with their prices) almost
every day. A banana isn’t worth the same in Japan as it is in the U.S.
Lettuce prices might vary highly within a country’s own borders, and
a meal ticket can increase significantly if you walk just a few blocks
over.
Taking all of these agricultural commodity end-games into account,

we present to you the following: an in-depth look at how restaurant
and grocery prices are rising or falling in cities and countries across
the globe.
Food Cost Changes
Our study first decided to take a look into the percentage change in
the cost of U.S. food items and goods from 2019 to 2020. As we
know, a lot happened in that short time frame, and the agricultural
commodity market certainly took notice.
With the exception of inexpensive restaurant meals, domestic beers, mid-range bottles of
wine, and cappuccinos, all other product categories increased in price ranging from 0.6% and
10% from 2019 to 2020. A mid-range meal for two saw the greatest increase at 10%.
Domestic beer prices under 0.5l decreased by 6.6%, while cappuccino prices decreased by
0.5%.
This recent year can’t be analyzed without first noting its existence
in the pandemic. Entire economies were shut down, and nearly
every industry took a major hit. The pandemic impacted both
demand and supply of commodities.
While there were immediate and direct implications from the

shutdown, there were also indirect effects like stalls in future
growth plans for business. Oil prices took a nosedive in April of
2020, while concerns over food security rise as countries dole out
more and more trade restrictions.
Meals for two people saw the biggest surge in prices. Due to the
implementation of increased safety measures, limited seating, and
supply-chain issues, some restaurant owners may have not had
much choice other than to increase their own prices. Oranges and
cigarettes also saw a major price during the first quarter of 2020,
with a $4.12 and $8.00 cost today, respectively. Beers and coffees
were the only goods to see a drastic decrease in price.
International Tables for Two
On average, the cheapest meal for two came to $9.43 in Bangladesh, while the most
expensive meal in Iceland for $105.25, giving us a price range of 111.6% between the two.
India and Pakistan are all under $11 per meal for two. Switzerland closely follows Iceland at
$103.56, before there’s a 17.35% drop to $88.25 in Denmark.
A very specific area on the map became immediately obvious and

essentially showed where expensive food was concentrated. The
Nordic countries surrounding Iceland, Switzerland, Denmark,
Norway, and Finland, suggest both a cultural and geographic
significance to the expensive dining.
Popular Scandinavian foods, like fish and meatballs, can be
particularly expensive menu items today, due to the surge in general

meat prices. Several Of these countries also have a value-added tax
(VAT) rate that is partially added to food and drink. Norway and
Sweden also have state-run monopolies on alcohol, which helps to
keep the prices up.
Staples like eggs, beef, bread, and cheese were expensive in

Switzerland, but the U.S. was still more expensive when it came to
buying things like wine or apples.
Water is an especially important commodity to consider. A 12-

ounce bottle currently costs more in Switzerland than any other
country in the world, averaging $3.63 at a Swiss restaurant. In the
U.S., by comparison, the same water bottle would cost $1.56.
Many experts anticipate the prices of water to continue to increase.

The cheapest water bottle in the world exists in Bangladesh, costing
a mere 18 cents.
Cosmopolitan Tastes
The study again averaged the cost of a three-course meal for two
people, but this time by city instead of country. Immediately, new
areas outside of Scandinavia were exposed as expensive.
The top 9 most inexpensive meals are all in cities in India, ranging from $7.92 to $13.21.
Iceland and Switzerland once again top the expensive list with Reykjavik leading at $115.35
per meal for two, closely followed by Zurich, and Lausanne.
Famous cities in the United States and Australia began to pop up

when we filtered through expensive restaurants, as did many areas
throughout Europe and New Zealand.
That said, cities within Scandinavian countries still held the top four
most expensive meals within their walls, on average. The most
expensive cities to get this three-course meal were Reykjavik,
Iceland; Zurich and Lausanne, Switzerland; and Copenhagen,
Denmark.
Beef was particularly expensive in Lausanne, costing an extra $30

over New York City prices.
New York City was the only city to contend with its Scandinavian
competitors in terms of price. A three-course meal for two people
will, on average, cost an even $100 in the Big Apple. But even the
apples in this city are expensive, costing just 89 cents less than they
do in Tokyo, which has the most expensive apples in the world.
Another staple – a pound of rice –was also incredibly expensive in

New York ($6.33 per pound) and cost more here than it did
anywhere else. Other specific food items, such as lettuce and
potatoes were also on the very high end of the cost spectrum in this
city.
Bottled water in the U.S., which is already unaffordable in 10% of

households, paled in comparison to the prices of Zurich Switzerland.
While a water bottle costs $1.85 in New York City, a similar product
would cost you $3.70 in Zurich.
Yearly Restaurant Price Increases
Arguably, a change in expenses may be harder to adapt to than an

already-expensive city. With the latter, at least you know what
you’re getting yourself in for. But certain changes over the course of
just one year were unexpected.
The next portion of the study showcases not only the most
expensive countries, but how much the rankings of those expenses
changed since 2019.
The data shows the rate of change in restaurant prices across the world from 2019 to 2020.
The data shows the rate of change in restaurant prices across the world from 2019 to 2020.
Ghana leads as the country that dropped in prices the most with -16 points, while and Kenya
Ukraine lead as the countries that saw the highest price increases with 14 points. 50% of the
top countries dropping in price are in South America.
In 2019, the U.S. ranked as 18th most expensive when it came to

dining out. In 2020, the U.S. ranked as 17th most expensive. In other
words, how expensive the U.S. was in comparison with the rest of
the world didn’t change much.
Ukraine, on the other hand, saw its formerly low ranking rise the
most in terms of average expensiveness. The country has a
legacy of a diet high in animal protein as part of its cultural heritage
from its former part in the Soviet Union. But the diet itself has seen
many recent changes: daily or almost daily intake of fruits and
vegetables has steadily increased in the country over the last ten
years. Perhaps this was reflected in its ranking shift.
Currently, nearly 20% of the world’s population works in farming.

Some regions of the world, like sub-Saharan Africa, have more
people farming than in any other industry. Many of these countries,
however, drastically dropped in price ranking over the past year.
That said, Kenya saw the second most expensive price increase
year over year. In June of 2020, this country began attempting a
specifically ordained beer-to-sausage ratio during its initial
reopening phases.
Grocery Store Receipts
Expensive groceries can be incredibly difficult on impoverished

communities. The following map looks at the countries which were
ranked as the most and least expensive for groceries, as well as
how their ranking in this regard changed from 2019 to 2020.
The data shows the rate of change in grocery prices from 2019 to 2020. Ghana saw the
highest drop in grocery costs, despite the highest rise in restaurant prices (previous
infographic). Singapore stands out with a 16 point increase as the highest rising country for
groceries costs.
Russia, China, and Mexico had very high grocery prices. As evident
from the map above, these countries had grocery expenses that far
outweighed those in the U.S. and many South American countries.
That said, the U.S. was still the 12th most expensive country for
grocery shopping in the world.
Singapore and the United Arab Emirates saw their average grocery
price rankings increase the most. The cost of living in the UAE is one
of the highest in the world, which evidently applies to groceries as
well. That said, it’s diversification in agricultural commodities also
caused a more severe impact from the global financial crisis than its
neighbors did.
Singapore has also been receiving attention for its exceedingly

expensive tastes. Our results would suggest it’s only trending more
in that same direction.
Future of Food
The data ultimately showcased a world in flux. While certain

strongholds in Scandinavian countries and the U.S. seemed to
maintain their expensive allure, change is in the air. The data
showed major fluxes in everything from markets to countries and
commodities. With COVID-19 and recent historical events, anything
is possible.
As essential as the agriculture industry is, it’s always ripe for

change. The world of trading these and other commodities is never
boring. From agricultural trading to all types of commodity
interests, Commodity.com can help with all trading-related
education and action. Commodity.com even gives its visitors
completely free lessons to learn more about how trading
commodities works. If you’re interested in trading today or just
learning how to get started, head to Commodity.com today.
Methodology and Limitations
Data on the prices of food items and goods were collected from
Numbeo.com on May 28, 2020. Data for 2020 reflect the average
price of food items and goods for the year at the time the data were
collected. Country-level data is calculated as an average of data
from cities located within that country.
All price data were collected in U.S. dollars. Historical changes in

international food prices and comparisons between countries may
be influenced by inflation or foreign exchange movements.
Historical prices from Numbeo.com use historical mid-year and
mid-month currency exchange rates.
Data from Numbeo rely on user inputs and authoritative sources. No

statistical testing was performed using this data. As such, the
findings on this page are exploratory and are provided here for
informational purposes only.
Efforts were taken to ensure a sufficient sample size of user inputs

were available to aggregate data for each city and country. The
number of user inputs per city within the last 12 months ranged
from 299 to 14,217 with a mean of 2,214. The number of user
inputs per country within the last 12 months ranged from 663 to
155,782 with a mean of 9,875.
Fair Use Statement
Food prices seem to change before our very eyes. If someone you
know could benefit from the information in this project, you are
welcome to share for any non-commercial reuse. Please link back
here so the project can be viewed in its entirety and the
methodology can be reviewed. This also gives credit to the
contributors who make this work possible.
WRITTEN BY
Marko Csokasi AUTHOR
Marko has been a digital nomad for over 5 years, and is

currently based in Europe. Alongside writing and editing,
Marko works on projects related to online technology and
digital marketing.
! " #
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Food Prices Around the World: Interesting Trends and Surprising Statistics - Commodity.

com 14/03/2021, 15:58

Commodity Brokers ! Trading ! Agricultural ! Metals !

Energy ! Crypto ! Blog ! Resources !

Food Prices Around the

Disclosure: Your support helps keep Commodity.com running! We earn a

What we call “agricultural commodities” are one of two things:

Needless to say, it’s an incredibly important market. In no uncertain

“So what’s the agricultural industry up to lately?“, you may ask.

Certain countries and cities have seen grocery prices skyrocket,

Taking all of these agricultural commodity end-games into account,

Food Cost Changes

While there were immediate and direct implications from the

International Tables for Two

A very specific area on the map became immediately obvious and

Popular Scandinavian foods, like fish and meatballs, can be

particularly expensive menu items today, due to the surge in general

Staples like eggs, beef, bread, and cheese were expensive in

Water is an especially important commodity to consider. A 12-

Many experts anticipate the prices of water to continue to increase.

Famous cities in the United States and Australia began to pop up

Beef was particularly expensive in Lausanne, costing an extra $30

Another staple – a pound of rice –was also incredibly expensive in

Bottled water in the U.S., which is already unaffordable in 10% of

Yearly Restaurant Price Increases

Arguably, a change in expenses may be harder to adapt to than an

In 2019, the U.S. ranked as 18th most expensive when it came to

Currently, nearly 20% of the world’s population works in farming.

Grocery Store Receipts

Expensive groceries can be incredibly difficult on impoverished

Singapore has also been receiving attention for its exceedingly

The data ultimately showcased a world in flux. While certain

As essential as the agriculture industry is, it’s always ripe for

Methodology and Limitations

All price data were collected in U.S. dollars. Historical changes in

Data from Numbeo rely on user inputs and authoritative sources. No

Efforts were taken to ensure a sufficient sample size of user inputs

Fair Use Statement

Marko Csokasi AUTHOR

Marko has been a digital nomad for over 5 years, and is

Commodity Trading CFD B R O K E R S

Commodity Brokers FXCM

CFD Brokers Markets.com

Trade Gold About Commodity.com

Trade Oil Contact Us

Silver Trading Disclosure of Advertising

RESOU RC E S Terms of Use

Technical Analysis Privacy & Cookie Policy

Economic Indicators Legal Disclaimer

World Debt Clock Sitemap

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