Food prices have climbed sharply across Europe over the past five years. In most of the 26 countries examined by Euronews Business, however, minimum wages have risen even faster, giving workers greater purchasing power at the supermarket — at least on paper.

Food Inflation Has Remained Persistent Across Europe

According to Eurostat, prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 34% across the European Union between August 2021 and August 2026. The pace of inflation varied widely. Hungary recorded the steepest rise in the bloc at 57%, followed by Bulgaria at 54% and Romania at 53%. Cyprus saw the mildest increase, at 21%.

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Looking beyond the EU, Switzerland posted the smallest increase among the 35 European countries in the comparison, at just 5%. Turkey stood apart entirely: food and non-alcoholic beverage prices surged by 752% over the same period.

Turkey Remains The Outlier

Turkey’s extraordinary rise reflects years of entrenched inflation, compounded by a steep decline in the lira that made imported goods and inputs significantly more expensive. That currency weakness was aggravated by a series of interest-rate cuts beginning in 2021, even as inflation accelerated. Lower rates reduced the currency’s appeal, adding further pressure to the exchange rate. Although Turkey reversed course in 2023 and raised rates sharply, prices continued to climb.

The picture is less dramatic but still significant across the EU. Food prices were already rising before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and the war intensified the pressure by pushing up energy, fertiliser and transport costs while disrupting agricultural markets. Those higher input costs eventually filtered through to supermarket shelves.

Among Europe’s largest economies, food prices rose by 25% in France, 30% in Italy, 34% in Germany and 35% in Spain between August 2021 and August 2026.

Minimum Wages Have Grown Faster In Many Markets

Monthly gross minimum wages also increased over the same period in many countries with statutory minimum pay floors. In the EU, Hungary recorded the largest increase at 93%. Germany’s minimum wage rose by 46%, Spain’s by 29% and France’s by 20%, all measured in local currency terms.

Turkey again posted the most dramatic change among the countries compared, with minimum wages rising 823% over five years. Serbia and Montenegro also saw more than a doubling, at 103% and 102% respectively.

Pay Rises Do Not Always Translate Into Greater Purchasing Power

Higher wages, however, do not automatically mean workers can afford more food. The key measure here is not the difference between wage growth and food inflation, but how much food a monthly gross minimum wage could actually buy in August 2021 versus August 2026.

That distinction matters. A simple subtraction can be misleading, especially in high-inflation environments such as Turkey. Comparing purchasing power directly provides a clearer view of how workers’ grocery budgets have changed.

In three of the 26 countries examined, minimum-wage workers lost purchasing power relative to food prices. Malta saw the biggest decline, at 6%, meaning a worker who could buy 100 baskets of food in August 2021 could buy only 94 in August 2026. Spain followed with a 5% drop, while France recorded a 4% fall.

Where Workers Gained The Most

At the other end of the spectrum, Serbia and Montenegro saw the largest gains in food purchasing power, each at 37%. In practical terms, a minimum-wage earner who could afford 100 baskets of food in August 2021 could buy 137 baskets five years later.

Strong improvements were also recorded in Croatia, Albania, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Lithuania, where gains exceeded 20%. Food purchasing power rose by 10% in Ireland, 9% in Germany, 7% in Greece, 6% in Belgium and the Netherlands, and 3% in Portugal.

Turkey’s Wage Growth Still Outpaced Food Prices

In Turkey, minimum wages increased by 823% while food prices rose by 752%. Although the gap between the two is 71 percentage points, the gain in food purchasing power was only 8%. That reflects the fact that wages and prices both rose sharply in lira terms, with wages increasing slightly faster.

The trend was not linear. Turkey’s minimum-wage workers lost ground at points in 2021 and 2022, when food inflation outpaced pay increases. Since January 2024, however, wage growth has stayed ahead of food price growth, leaving workers able to buy more food than they could at the starting point.

The broader lesson is clear: headline wage growth can look impressive, but purchasing power is what ultimately matters. For households living on the minimum wage, the real question is not how fast pay rises, but whether it rises fast enough to keep pace with the cost of food.