Switzerland still Europe’s most expensive country

The Swiss are paying the highest prices in Europe swissinfo.ch

Switzerland is the most expensive country in Europe, according to a new survey by Eurostat, the European Union's statistics office.

The study compared the price of goods and services as well as GDP and Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) Europe-wide.

All these factors are combined to give an index, which indicates price levels in different countries.

Switzerland topped the league with 139 points for 2001, compared to a 100-point average for the EU as a whole.

The federal Statistics Office said the strong franc was partly to blame for the rise in the Swiss index, which was 133 in 2000.

Other factors known to influence the index are the price of food and rent.

No surprise

But the results of the survey come as no surprise. Switzerland has been named the most expensive country in the EU and EFTA, which comprises the non-EU countries of Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein as well as Switzerland, for several years.

Scandinavian countries were also highly ranked with Norway in second place with 125 points and Denmark in third with 124 points.

Lower down the scale were the 12 mainly eastern European EU candidate countries with an average of 51 points.

Switzerland has participated in the survey, which covers 31 countries in Europe, for 13 years.

swissinfo with agencies

price facts

Switzerland topped the league with 139 points for 2001, compared to a 100-point average for the EU as a whole.
The strong franc was partly to blame for the rise in the Swiss index, which was 133 in 2000.
Other factors known to influence the index are the price of food and rent.