Guide
Grocery prices in France, from the fruit stall to the fromagerie
By Covered Abroad Research Desk · Last verified July 2026
Where France sits
Eurostat measures price levels across Europe with the EU average at 100. France in 2025:
- Food and non-alcoholic beverages — 106.8, third-dearest of the ten European countries this site covers, after Malta and Austria.
- Overall price level — 106.4, fifth of the ten.
Unlike most countries we cover, France's groceries and its overall cost of living line up almost exactly. There's no hidden supermarket bargain and no supermarket shock — food costs what French life generally costs.
The direction is encouraging: French food prices fell from 108.9 in 2024 to 106.8 in 2025 relative to the EU average, the largest improvement of the ten.
Source: Eurostat — Purchasing power parities and price level indices (prc_ppp_ind_1), 2024 and 2025 values, dataset updated 9 July 2026, read 7 October 2026.
The categories, from dearest to cheapest
Eurostat's food breakdown gives France a clear profile. Three categories are the dearest of the ten countries we cover:
- Meat — 128.4
- Fruit — 125.1
- Vegetables — 111.9
Bread and cereals, at 110.5, are second-dearest. Fish (108.5) and oils (109.8) also sit above average.
Then the other end of the table:
- Dairy and eggs — 93.3, the cheapest of the ten
- Soft drinks — 96.1
- Sugar and sweets — 95.1
- Alcohol 100.9 — right on the EU average
So the cheese board is genuinely good value in France, and wine costs about what it does across the EU. Fresh produce and meat are where a French shopping basket runs ahead of its neighbours.
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Check my policyUsing this in a moving budget
A price level index compares the same basket across countries, including taxes. It isn't a measure of household spending, and rent is outside it.
For planning a move, France is one of the easier countries to budget for: groceries cost roughly what everything else does, about 7% above the EU average. Households that eat a lot of dairy will find the shop kinder than expected; households built around fresh fruit, vegetables and meat should budget a little higher.
International health cover doesn't track any of this — it is priced on your age and the cover you choose, not on French prices.
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