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Denmark vs Sweden

15% dearer than — Denmark against Sweden

Denmark104.52025
Sweden90.52025

On national price levels, Denmark is 15% dearer than Sweden. Both figures use the United States as 100.

Where the difference actually sits

A single number hides the interesting part. These are the categories Eurostat prices for both countries.

CategoryDenmarkSwedenDifference
Overall consumption (incl. government-funded services)95.782.4 +16%
Food and non-alcoholic drinks120.2106.4 +13%
Bread and cereals136.2108.6 +25%
Meat104.3106.2 -2%
Fish129.7100.9 +29%
Milk, cheese and eggs116.3100.8 +15%
Fruit and vegetables111.5115.7 -4%
Non-alcoholic drinks130.5104.7 +25%
Alcoholic drinks124.6145.8 -15%
Tobacco124.0104.0 +19%
Clothing and footwear132.7120.6 +10%
Housing, water, electricity and fuel185.5112.0 +66%
Furnishings and household equipment121.1109.4 +11%
Health142.0155.8 -9%
Transport125.0111.1 +13%
Communication108.7143.1 -24%
Recreation and culture136.7118.0 +16%
Education143.8161.8 -11%
Restaurants and hotels147.6116.7 +26%

SOURCE·Eurostat — purchasing power parities (prc_ppp_ind)·Price level indices by consumption category, published on an EU27=100 basis and rebased here to US=100. CC BY 4.0.·REVIEWED AUG 2026

Before you use this to decide anything

  • These are national averages. Comparing two capital cities is a different question and this data cannot answer it.
  • Price level is only half of the decision. What matters is prices relative to what you would earn — see what the job pays in each country on PayLens.
  • The figures are indices, not prices. Nothing here is a quote for rent or groceries.

How the price level is worked out

  1. The World Bank publishes a purchasing power parity for household consumption — how much local currency buys the same basket as one US dollar — and the official market exchange rate for the same year.
  2. The price level is simply PPP ÷ exchange rate × 100. If a basket needs 1.50 New Zealand dollars per US dollar of purchasing power but the market hands you 1.65 New Zealand dollars for that dollar, New Zealand's prices sit at 1.50 ÷ 1.65 = 91% of the US level.
  3. Nothing is modelled, smoothed or estimated. You can reproduce every number on this site from two public figures.
  4. Where Eurostat also publishes a price level for the same country and year, the two are compared and the gap is printed — including when they disagree.

Full methodology →

SOURCE·World Bank — International Comparison Program·PPP conversion factor for household final consumption, and the official market exchange rate. CC BY 4.0.·REVIEWED AUG 2026

SOURCE·World Bank ICP PPPs + Eurostat price level indices·price levels derived as PPP ÷ exchange rate, see method·REVIEWED AUG 2026

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Published by

Amit Sharma

Auckland real-estate agent and marketer. Builds free, sourced data tools.