Which countries fork out most on Christmas dinner? German roast goose is priciest festive meal in global study while Romanian sarmale is cheapest

Families in Germany are potentially facing the world’s most expensive Christmas dinner this year, according to a study of 12 countries across three continents by the social investing network eToro.

eToro looked at local supermarket prices of traditional Christmas cuisine and found that a typical German festive meal of roast goose and trimmings including bacon, apples and onions will cost €66.70 to feed a family of four, with 3 kg of goose breast alone costing almost €57. At the other end of the spectrum, a typical Romanian Christmas feast of sarmale (pork and minced beef) with mamaliga along with all of the usual trimmings – including sour cream and hot peppers- and home-made cozonac, would cost a family of four just €26.

Whilst German families face the priciest Christmas dinner in eToro’s study, several other poultry-eating nations face similarly high costs. Spanish (€60.90) families, for example, will fork out similarly high sums for their festive meal, turkey with apples, raisins and onions. The outlier is the UK, where turkey costs are lower. To enjoy a traditional British Christmas dinner of turkey and the classic trimmings, families in the UK will need to pay €32.48.

Ben Laidler, Global Markets Strategist at eToro, said: “Families across the world are all feeling the impact of food prices that have surged well ahead of already high inflation this year, and our global study demonstrates the effect that this will have on Christmas dinners. 

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 “What the price data also shows is that many inflationary pressures are local, with big cost differences between countries, some of which border each other. One thing for certain is that traditional poultry dishes – be it goose or turkey – ramp up the cost of Christmas dinners with prices feeling the pressure of recent avian flu culls across Europe. We may see this drive demand for cheaper sources of protein this Christmas.”

Table shows cost of Christmas dinner ingredients across 12 countries in euros

Just above Romania, households in Norway will enjoy the second cheapest Christmas dinner amongst those countries included in the study – with a typical Norwegian pork roast with the usual trimmings setting a family of four back €26,80.

Food price inflation has surged globally this year, with the latest EU food inflation figure at 17.2%, whilst the corresponding figure for the UK is 16%.