Economists use a range of goods to gauge consumer prices in different countries around the world.
Beer is one consumable that can be used for such purposes, although not often omitted.
I believe this is because unlike a bottle of Coca-Cola, the local varieties of beer can result in significant price differences. Which left me wondering; where can you visit to find the cheapest beer?
Methodology
I used GoEuro’s Beer Price Index (2015 and 2016) for beer costs around the world. This index includes both supermarket and bar costs for a 33cl beer. GoEuro’s data also calculates a mean average beer price using the calculation (supermarket cost + bar cost) / 2.
Results
Cost of beer around the world 2016
A 33cl beer will cost you anywhere between $1.14 and $6.59, on average. Lausanne, Switzerland is the most expensive where a beer at a bar will cost you $12.20. That’s over 6 times more expensive than the cheapest city for a beer at a bar, Kiev ($1.82).
Cheapest beers 2016
| Overall rank (overall ave) | City | Country | Average Price for 33cl Beer (Supermarket) in USD | Average Price for 33cl Beer (Bar) in USD | Overall Average Price in USD | Bar – supermarket diff | Bar – supermarket diff pc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bratislava | Slovakia | 0.35 | 1.93 | 1.14 | 1.58 | 451.43% |
| 2 | Kiev | Ukraine | 0.47 | 1.82 | 1.15 | 1.35 | 287.23% |
| 3 | Cape Town | South Africa | 0.46 | 2.12 | 1.29 | 1.66 | 360.87% |
| 4 | Krakow | Poland | 0.57 | 2.02 | 1.30 | 1.45 | 254.39% |
| 5 | Mexico City | Mexico | 0.46 | 2.48 | 1.47 | 2.02 | 439.13% |
| 6 | Belgrade | Serbia | 0.30 | 2.73 | 1.52 | 2.43 | 810.00% |
| 7 | Cairo | Egypt | 0.69 | 2.61 | 1.65 | 1.92 | 278.26% |
| 8 | Warsaw | Poland | 0.60 | 2.79 | 1.70 | 2.19 | 365.00% |
| 8 | Ljubljana | Slovenia | 0.75 | 2.64 | 1.70 | 1.89 | 252.00% |
| 10 | Budapest | Hungary | 0.28 | 3.13 | 1.71 | 2.85 | 1017.86% |
Most of the cities in the top 10 (7) are all found in Eastern Europe. In Bratislava, Slovakia a 33cl beer can be bought for $0.35. At a bar in Bratislava the same beer might cost you $1.58 — a 451% increase! In Budapest the difference between supermarket ($0.28) and bar ($3.13) is 1018% (Paris is the worst — a 1270% increase).
Year-on-year beer price changes
| Price change rank | City | Country | Overall Average Price % Change 15/16 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rio de Janeiro | Brazil | -43.27% |
| 2 | Geneva | Switzerland | -42.80% |
| 3 | Munich | Germany | -42.05% |
| 4 | Cape Town | South Africa | -39.72% |
| 5 | Bucharest | Romania | -37.81% |
| 6 | Ljubljana | Slovenia | -37.34% |
| 7 | Tel Aviv | Israel | -37.10% |
| 8 | Dublin | Ireland | -34.32% |
| 9 | San Francisco | United States | -34.01% |
| 10 | Barcelona | Spain | -33.90% |
GoEuro’s price index records beer prices falling in 63 of 64 cities between 2015 and 2016! Only Malaga in Spain saw beer prices increase, by 23% — sorry packaged holiday makers.
The fall in beer prices was actually fairly significant with an average price decrease of 24%. The top 10 cities ranked by falling beer price all saw price decreases of over 30%. In Rio De Janeiro, Geneva, and Munich average beer prices fell by over 40%! Oktoberfest is looking cheap in 2017!
Beer consumption 2016
Did you know? Out of the 70 countries considered in GoEuro’s Beer Price Index, the top beer consumers in 2016 were: 1) Czech Republic (144 litres person / year), 2) Poland (127), 3) Serbia (119).
Biggest spenders on beer 2016
| Av spend rank | City | Country | Av. Annual Consumption Per Capita (litres) | Av. annual spend per capita (Supermarket only) | Av. annual spend per capita (Bar only) | Av. annual spend per capita (average) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lausanne | Switzerland | 56 | 166.30 | 2,070.30 | 1,118.30 |
| 2 | Helsinki | Finland | 105 | 381.82 | 1,753.18 | 1,067.50 |
| 3 | Sydney | Australia | 99 | 540.00 | 1,398.00 | 969.00 |
| 4 | New York | United States | 85 | 265.30 | 1,645.91 | 955.61 |
| 5 | Miami | United States | 85 | 182.88 | 1,602.12 | 892.50 |
| 6 | Toronto | Canada | 116 | 376.12 | 1,395.52 | 885.82 |
| 7 | Prague | Czech Republic | 144 | 318.55 | 1,444.36 | 881.45 |
| 8 | Venice | Italy | 106 | 212.00 | 1,532.18 | 872.09 |
| 9 | Moscow | Russia | 106 | 395.09 | 1,323.39 | 859.24 |
| 10 | Frankfurt | Germany | 107 | 220.48 | 1,420.18 | 820.33 |
Whilst Czech Republic, Poland, and Serbia have the highest beer consumption per capita, the relatively cheap price of beer means that they don’t spend as much ($881 per year, $652 and $546 respectively).
Unsurprisingly Lausanne, Switzerland – where a beer at a bar can cost you more than $12 – comes out top for most spent per person on beer each year at $1,118 (even though consumption is relatively low at only 56 litres p/person p/year).
Improvements
GoEuros dataset has aggregated beer prices. Having access to the raw dataset with prices by brand would be particularly useful in comparing like-for-like differences in prices around the world.
tl;dr
33cl of beer is cheapest in Bratislava, Slovakia at an average cost of $1.14 ($0.35 in a supermarket or $1.93 in a bar).
Footnotes
Data sources + data used in this post.