Between 2000 and 2017, prices in the European Union as a whole increased by an average of 36.5%, according to data published this week by Eurostat, the European statistical office.
However, if price variations are analyzed by each European country, the differences are very remarkable.
Thus, in Romania, prices rose by an average of 257% during this period, being the country where the increase was highest. The second country in the ranking is Iceland, where prices increased by 108% between 2000 and 2017. Hungary occupies the third position with an increase of 98%.
In the case of Spain, it appears in the 13th position of this ranking with an average price increase of 42.8%, 6.3 points above the European average.
The countries where prices rose the least on average in the analyzed period were France (29.7%), Sweden (29.1%), and Germany (28.6%).
The report published by Eurostat also offers data on price variation in the period 2000-2017 by sectors.
Across the European Union, the most significant increases occurred in the alcoholic beverages and tobacco sector, whose prices grew by an average of 92.1%, and in education, where they increased by 91.2%. In contrast, communications experienced an average reduction of 21.7%.
In the case of Spain, the most significant increase also occurred in the alcoholic beverages and tobacco sector (120.1%), followed equally by education (78.5%). As in the EU as a whole, communications became 21.8% cheaper.