Weekly shop index

While tastes and preferences vary around the world, the basics of our average weekly food shops are broadly similar, whether it's fruit and vegetables, or staple foods such as rice and eggs.

However, the cost of an essential grocery shop still differs considerably from one country to the next.

Unfortunately, due to the cost of living crisis, the price of food items is set to increase even further, bringing the UK's basket total to more than the current £60.59. Find out which food items have seen the most significant increases and decreases via our cost of living statistics page.

If you’re looking to save money on your grocery shop, many supermarkets offer their own credit cards, with a range of benefits for shopping with them, you can compare credit cards to see if you could save.

With that in mind, our personal finance experts analysed the average cost of a weekly shop in 36 countries around the world, as well as how these costs stack up against average earnings in each country.

The most expensive countries for groceries

1. Switzerland - £35.81/$48.16/€42.89

Switzerland overall is the most expensive country when it comes to the cost of a weekly shop, at an estimated cost of £35.81 a week.

Switzerland is known for having a high cost of living, with goods and services tending to be a lot more expensive than in neighbouring European countries.

Meat, in particular, has a high cost in Switzerland, at £5.91 for 300g of chicken fillets and £3.87 for 100g of beef.

2. South Korea - £26.61/$35.78/€31.87

The most expensive country outside of Europe is South Korea, at an estimated weekly grocery cost of £26.61.

The cost of living is especially high in major cities such as the capital, Seoul, with some of the most expensive items in a weekly shop being apples (£2.48 for 500g) and bananas (£1.51 for 600g).

3. Norway - £25.98/$34.93/€31.11

Another European nation known for being expensive to live in is Norway, where an average weekly shop will cost around £26.

A lot of groceries are imported into Norway, which goes some way to explaining why costs are so high here, especially for things such as milk (£1.58 for a litre) and bread (£2.33 for a 500g loaf).

The cheapest countries for groceries

1. Turkey - £6.66/$8.95/€7.97

At the other end of the scale, the cheapest OECD country for groceries is Turkey, with the average cost of a weekly shop at just £6.66.

Prices in Turkey are extremely low, with the cost of an average grocery basket coming in at over five times cheaper than that in the most expensive country, Switzerland.

2. Colombia - £7.22/$9.71/€8.65

The second cheapest country overall is Colombia, with an average weekly shop cost of £7.22.

Among the cheapest items to buy in the country include cheese (£0.77 for 350g) and beef (£0.34 for 100g).

3. Poland - £9.19/$12.35/€11.00

Another very affordable European country when it comes to groceries is Poland, with the average cost of a weekly shop at just £9.19.

Milk is one of the most affordable items in a weekly shop here, with a litre costing just £0.49 on average.

The cost of groceries around the world

The least affordable countries compared to earnings

As well as discovering which countries are the costliest and cheapest for groceries overall, our experts also took a look at how this compares to the average earnings in each nation.

Estimated monthly basket cost: £46.76

Average monthly earnings: £1,006.35

Estimated basket cost as % of earnings: 4.65%

The least affordable country, once earnings are taken into account, is Mexico, where the average person spends £46.76 on food essentials. 

The average monthly income here is just over £1,000, meaning that groceries take up 4.65% of earnings, more than any other OECD country.

The most affordable countries compared to earnings

Estimated monthly basket cost: £72.00

Average monthly earnings: £3,647.64

Estimated basket cost as % of earnings: 1.97%

On the other hand, the Netherlands is the most affordable country when it comes to buying groceries. Despite having a relatively high monthly cost of £72 for food essentials, it’s also one of the countries with high average earnings, which means that a month’s worth of groceries makes up just 1.97% of the average monthly income.

If you're looking to save some money on your groceries, check out how you can stop your food bills spiralling with our top 10 ways to cut the cost of your weekly shop.