A 500g pack of Barilla Penne Rigate costs €1.37 in Slovenia. The same pack is €2.51 in Estonia. Same euros. Same pasta. Same supermarket shelf. Different country.
What the data shows
Sivix tracked Barilla Penne Rigate 500g across EUR-zone markets between October 2025 and March 2026. This is the price ladder:
| Country | Median price |
|---|---|
| Slovenia | €1.37 |
| Finland | €1.98 |
| Germany / Lithuania | €2.49 |
| Estonia | €2.51 |
That is an 83% gap from cheapest to most expensive — for a product where the only variable is where you live.
Same product, different country (€)
Source: Sivix, Oct 2025 – Mar 2026
The pattern holds across the board. Across 2,905 products tracked in three or more EUR markets, the median price gap between cheapest and most expensive country is 27%. One in ten products shows a gap of 65% or more. The shared currency hides a lot of variation.
Not everything diverges this sharply. Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough 465ml showed only a 37% gap, with Finland — usually an expensive market — coming in as the cheapest EUR country at €7.62. Premium brands tend to use consistent pan-European pricing. It is everyday staples — pasta, sauces, condiments — where geography hits hardest.
Why this happens
The euro solves the exchange rate problem. It does not solve the cost-of-doing-business problem.
Labour costs, fuel, retail concentration, and local competition all vary significantly across the Eurozone. Estonia has fewer supermarket chains competing on price than Slovenia does. Finland adds long cold-chain distances for almost everything. Germany is a complicated case: a meaningful chunk of Sivix's German prices come from urban convenience stores and kiosks rather than supermarkets, which can push medians up. The Slovenia-Estonia pasta comparison is cleaner — supermarket data in both countries.
What it means for you
Food is where the gaps show up. Household goods, toys, and electronics are far more uniform — household goods have a median EUR-zone gap of just 5%. Groceries can vary 30–80% for identical products.
If you are travelling or moving within the Eurozone, your shopping habits are worth revisiting. A jar of Kikkoman Soy Sauce costs €3.97 in Finland and €6.19 in Slovenia. Your postcode still sets your prices. The shared currency just makes the difference easier to see.
Data source: Based on 1,750,553 price submissions collected by Sivix users across 8 EUR markets (DE, EE, FI, LT, LV, SI, ES + sparse IT), October 2025 – March 2026. 2,905 products analysed with ≥3 price records in 3+ countries. Approximately 78% of records sourced from Wolt-linked delivery stores; German data skews towards convenience/kiosk stores.