Sweden vs Spain
32% dearer than — Sweden against Spain
On national price levels, Sweden is 32% dearer than Spain. 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.
| Category | Sweden | Spain | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall consumption (incl. government-funded services) | 82.4 | 60.8 | +36% |
| Food and non-alcoholic drinks | 106.4 | 95.2 | +12% |
| Bread and cereals | 108.6 | 95.5 | +14% |
| Meat | 106.2 | 90.5 | +17% |
| Fish | 100.9 | 94.2 | +7% |
| Milk, cheese and eggs | 100.8 | 93.1 | +8% |
| Fruit and vegetables | 115.7 | 95.8 | +21% |
| Non-alcoholic drinks | 104.7 | 100.6 | +4% |
| Alcoholic drinks | 145.8 | 90.5 | +61% |
| Tobacco | 104.0 | 81.4 | +28% |
| Clothing and footwear | 120.6 | 90.9 | +33% |
| Housing, water, electricity and fuel | 112.0 | 96.5 | +16% |
| Furnishings and household equipment | 109.4 | 93.2 | +17% |
| Health | 155.8 | 96.4 | +62% |
| Transport | 111.1 | 87.4 | +27% |
| Communication | 143.1 | 94.6 | +51% |
| Recreation and culture | 118.0 | 94.2 | +25% |
| Education | 161.8 | 86.3 | +87% |
| Restaurants and hotels | 116.7 | 83.9 | +39% |
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
- 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.
- 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.
- Nothing is modelled, smoothed or estimated. You can reproduce every number on this site from two public figures.
- 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.
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