Pay data, country by country
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Netherlands vs France

5% dearer than — Netherlands against France

Netherlands86.72025
France82.82025

On national price levels, Netherlands is 5% dearer than France. 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.

CategoryNetherlandsFranceDifference
Overall consumption (incl. government-funded services)81.172.3 +12%
Food and non-alcoholic drinks98.9110.1 -10%
Bread and cereals90.5112.5 -20%
Meat106.0131.7 -20%
Fish93.6110.6 -15%
Milk, cheese and eggs100.696.0 +5%
Fruit and vegetables95.1119.2 -20%
Non-alcoholic drinks119.896.9 +24%
Alcoholic drinks100.0102.3 -2%
Tobacco160.7194.8 -18%
Clothing and footwear93.097.8 -5%
Housing, water, electricity and fuel129.8122.5 +6%
Furnishings and household equipment101.1107.7 -6%
Health139.898.9 +41%
Transport112.9108.9 +4%
Communication134.282.2 +63%
Recreation and culture112.4105.7 +6%
Education150.397.3 +54%
Restaurants and hotels124.6110.0 +13%

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.