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The global pandemic put the humble grocery basket in the spotlight. More to the point, it was the basket’s contents – or lack of contents – that concerned the world.
Panic-buying for toilet paper became a meme in 2020. The baking craze made flour a rare commodity. But at the same time, 2.37 billion people – one in three humans – suffered from food insecurity, unable to afford a balanced and nutritious diet. That’s a rise of 320 million people due to the pandemic. In the US, grocery prices are likely to keep rising.
Meanwhile, in the UK, coronavirus and Brexit have led to a shortage of truck drivers and a shortage of food on the shelves. This is a land where the national security agency believes society is only ever “four meals away from anarchy” – and where prime minister Boris Johnson once said, “I don’t know how much a pint of milk costs – so what?”
But the price of essential groceries does matter – and so does how that cost relates to your income. NetCredit designed a shopping list of staple foods and researched how much it would cost to buy in grocery stores worldwide, plus affordability compared to local wages. And then they did the same for a vegan shopping list, too.
NetCredit’s study began by finding a supermarket with an online shop for each country. If it wasn’t possible to find an online shop, the team removed the country from the list. They built a list of 10 essential items for both a non-vegan and vegan shops:
Then the team manually searched online to find the prices of the items. If they couldn’t find any items, they chose the closest alternative. The team found the total cost for both lists and converted the price into USD.
Using the Worldbank NetCredit gathered average daily income data for each country and used this to find the affordability percentage.
The Price of a Grocery Shop in Every Country
The Price of a Vegan Grocery Shop in Every Country
Country
Grocery List in $
Vegan List in $
Affordability of Grocery List (% Daily Salary)
Affordability of Vegan List (% Daily Salary)
Switzerland
52.95
49.29
21.06699695122
19.610807926829
Iceland
52.55
38.76
23.717425513151
17.49357588753
Cambodia
49.7
942.02614379085
Norway
45.58
19.574141108332
Sweden
43.64
43.09
25.887631255966
25.561366425747
Jamaica
42.45
38.68
219.83035714286
200.30714285714
United Arab Emirates
39.71
64.2
26.368264387116
42.630132804152
Australia
39.5
38.11
24.458494460392
23.597803136343
Austria
38.96
40.6
24.692957746479
25.732394366197
Barbados
37.98
45.31
63.372842347526
75.603567318757
Grenada
37.38
51.98
Malta
37.17
46.97
France
37.03
31.75
28.658611078164
24.572263076741
Venezuela
36.56
64.683839479393
Italy
35.6
32.53
33.309195196272
30.436744936369
Portugal
35.23
25.91
49.459577214781
36.375181539455
Canada
34.32
29.8
23.678976446641
20.560416611594
Andorra
34.17
35.04
Singapore
34.09
40.28
18.404538308787
21.746400794307
Luxembourg
34.06
14.715787382675
Ireland (Republic of)
33.3
33.96
20.195417789757
20.595687331536
Belgium
33.28
24.1
22.733668341709
16.462782663317
Kenya
31.56
552.08847184987
Latvia
31.44
59.574851168869
Bosnia and Herzegovina
30.99
158.19264619597
Uruguay
30.25
38.97
57.942536327609
74.645310435931
Greece
29.64
48.058892961421
Saudi Arabia
29.48
40.158037578288
El Salvador
28.69
36.07
220.36756915833
277.05326662743
Bahrain
28.3
20.33
37.895951977836
27.223487763583
Estonia
27.86
29.85
37.393088552916
40.064023449553
Lithuania
27.69
20.85
43.789929714009
32.97291565681
Chile
27.11
27.93
60.378103933783
62.204368973462
Costa Rica
26.24
63.460340993328
Croatia
26.02
29.55
54.347151088348
61.720150448143
United Kingdom
25.83
29.16
18.812976140645
21.238342402679
Spain
25.79
32.03
26.865655557773
33.365914987029
United States of America
25.71
26.04
12.108320251177
12.263736263736
Kuwait
25.54
44.4
20.692680201155
35.97317936301
Panama
#REF!
49.746120235046
Slovenia
25.17
31.54
31.66571869276
39.679649088981
Finland
24.95
32.58
16.356751733146
21.358836531699
Bolivia
24.87
217.31067961165
Slovakia
24.86
26.96
41.459808306709
44.962044728435
Montenegro
24.82
84.913094769957
Netherlands
24.59
34.94
14.66030883092
20.830873954955
Honduras
23.81
51.11
277.92531305903
596.58810375671
Nicaragua
23.76
360.75392670157
Mauritius
23.57
55.566525155812
Serbia
23.56
24.95
106.5527638191
112.8391959799
Peru
23.47
102.84872397582
Bangladesh
23.13
339.72594259989
Lebanon
22.8
38.79
99.96304384344
170.0687048547
Guatemala
22.62
150.22442748092
Mexico
22.22
30.94
74.831225806452
104.19793548387
Dominican Republic
20.83
73.408452605995
South Africa
20.6
23.49
110.58412176059
126.09810777458
Albania
20.49
123.82241259551
Philippines
20.34
152.90149769585
Argentina
20.15
33.89
64.442470285504
108.38487930401
Egypt
19.12
190.834416826
Colombia
18.58
92.439573008006
Russia
17.25
19.86
50.360738255034
57.980536912752
Hungary
16.79
23.15
32.264688558386
44.48645265793
Romania
15.21
31.07
36.507356998345
74.574857458157
Ukraine
14.64
115.71895820715
Poland
13.65
17.19
26.877781969068
33.848283666541
Paraguay
13.35
26.67
71.327533265097
142.49477993859
Moldova
12.93
81.771989338503
Djibouti
6.89
61.522066370168
Key Findings
Switzerland has the most expensive essentials globally, costing $52.95 for a regular basket of groceries.
The cost for the same groceries in Djibouti is $6.89, just 13 percent of the price in Switzerland.
The United States has the most affordable regular and vegan essentials in the world – in each case, our sample basket of food costs around 12 percent of the average day’s pay.
The United Arab Emirates has the world’s most expensive vegan menu, costing more than double its non-vegan equivalent.
This is so much bullshit