Around 20% more expensive here

Supermarket shopping is cheaper in Germany

(Bild: benjaminnolte - stock.adobe.com)

Supermarket shopping is significantly more expensive in Austria than in Germany. An analysis published on Thursday by the Association for Consumer Information (VKI) revealed price differences of up to 20 percent on average. Food is rarely cheaper than in Germany. 

The VKI blames this on market concentration. The four largest chains share 95 percent of the market. At the same time, no other EU country has such a high branch density.

Large price differences for dairy products 
Depending on the retailer, Austria is on average 15 to 20 percent more expensive than Germany. The VKI found particularly large price differences for dairy products. Natural yogurt costs 50 to 70 percent more in the low-cost segment, but also in the organic segment, regardless of whether it is sold in discount stores or supermarkets. Organic butter is 3 percent cheaper in Austria than in Germany, but cheap butter is 17 percent more expensive. A liter of whole milk costs 20 to 30 percent more.

The difference in pasta, for example, is also above average: The entry-level product costs in some cases 25 percent more here than in Germany. In Italy, pasta is on average half the price of pasta in Austria. However, the VKI was unable to make a general statement about Italy. The overlap between the Austrian and Italian markets is too small and there are too few comparable products.

Prices of 200 articles surveyed
For the current issue of "Konsument" in November, the VKI surveyed the prices of around 200 items in supermarkets in the Austrian, German and Italian border regions. The consumer advocates compared the prices with each other in the respective product segments on the one hand and with similar retailers on the other. They compared Lidl Austria with Lidl Germany, Hofer with Aldi Süd, Spar with Globus and Billa+ with Edeka.

High store density and high market concentration
VKI sees the reason for the higher prices less in personnel costs, store density, topography or the proportion of organic products, but rather in the high market concentration in this country. This is inevitably associated with higher prices. The less competition, the higher the price level. Consumer advocates are pushing for more transparency. If retailers were to report price data to an independent body, a transparency database and apps could help to achieve fairer prices.

The four largest supermarket chains share 95 percent of the market.

(Bild: APA/Georg Hochmuth)

According to experts, a high store density can also represent a so-called market entry barrier and can therefore be a consequence of high market concentration.

High supermarket density in this country
According to figures from Hagelversicherung, Austria leads the EU ranking with 60 supermarkets per 100,000 inhabitants. In Germany, there are 40 supermarkets per 100,000 inhabitants, in Italy and France only 28.

Supermarkets on the outskirts of cities with their parking lots are also one of the reasons for the high land consumption in Austria. However, land consumption by retailers not only has consequences for nature, it also drives up costs.