Everyone is familiar with the Big Mac index, which compares the purchasing power of individual countries based on the price of a hamburger from the fast-food chain McDonald’s. The travel magazine TRAVELBOOK.de (which, like WELT, belongs to the Axel Springer Group) has now found the right counterpart for the price level in Europe’s cities: the espresso index.
The Italian coffee specialty is drunk almost everywhere in the world. Many tourists do not want to do without this on vacation either. But the price differences are immense, as the ranking shows. In June 2022, the travel magazine viewed more than 400 menu cards from all over Europe. For each of the 42 capitals, the respective average price was calculated from at least six cafés and restaurants. All prices come from locations that are located either in the center of a capital city or in lively and touristy areas.
But before we tell you how much espresso will cost you in your next holiday destination, we want to know from you:
On average, the pick-me-up costs around 1.96 euros per cup in Europe – about the same as in Madrid. In the Spanish capital, a simple espresso costs 1.93 euros. Surprisingly, the price in Berlin is even below the European average at 1.85 euros. However, this is significantly increased by travel destinations such as Copenhagen, where the Italian coffee shot is the most expensive at four euros on average, or Bern in Switzerland with 3.96 euros per cup. Incidentally, you can drink the cheapest espresso in Albania’s capital Tirana: the bars there charge an average of just 70 cents.
The cost of living in almost all European capitals is above the national average. The purchasing power of the residents is correspondingly high there. According to a study by the opinion research institute GfK from 2021, people in Switzerland, Luxembourg, Iceland and Norway have the highest purchasing power per inhabitant in Europe. The espresso prices are also the most expensive there. A comparison of the top positions in the espresso index with the respective gross domestic products of the countries shows that countries such as Luxembourg, Denmark, Iceland and Switzerland are among the top ten places in Europe in both lists.
Unsurprisingly, the pick-me-up espresso is cheapest in southern and eastern Europe. Here, too, there are similarities with the gross domestic products of the respective countries. So if you want a bargain holiday when it comes to coffee, you might want to consider countries like Albania, Bulgaria, Malta, San Marino or Montenegro.
A little surprising, however, is the placement of Greece’s capital Athens in the “Espresso Index”. Although Greece’s gross domestic product is in the lower midfield of all European countries, Athens comes eleventh in the espresso ranking with 2.61 euros per cup. This is probably due to the fact that the only megacity in Greece is a tourist hotspot thanks to the Acropolis and the like.
In addition to the 27 member states of the European Union, the former EU member Great Britain and the seven member states of the Central European Free Trade Agreement, the current EU accession candidates, three out of four non-EU countries that are in the European Customs Union and, with the exception of Liechtenstein, also the four countries of the European Free Trade Association included in the ranking.
Well then: off to Tirana for the cheapest holiday espresso. You can find suitable travel tips here: