German supermarkets aren't cheaper: salaries are

German supermarkets aren't cheaper: salaries are double

A Spaniard stops at a gas station in Munich, orders a half-liter Coke Zero, pays 1.20 euros, and when he puts the bottle in the recycling machine, he gets 0.25 euros back. The video spreads like wildfire: life is cheaper in Germany, in Spain they rip you off. The full data tells another story: the Spanish shopping basket is, in most groups, cheaper than the German one. What isn't cheap here is having a German salary.

Eurostat debunks the myth of cheap German supermarkets

Eurostat's price level index for 2024 (EU27=100) places Spain below Germany in almost all food categories. For meat, Spain scores 90.5 versus 112.3; for fish, 94.2 against 117.0; for fruit, vegetables, and potatoes, 95.8 to 103.0. Even in bread and cereals or oils and fats, Spain is lower. Germany only wins in the "other food" group, with 93.8 versus 106.5, and ties in non-alcoholic beverages.

The cheapness seen in a German Lidl is selective: potatoes, rice, flours, some processed items. Doing a full shop and comparing it with the Spanish receipt doesn't favor Germany. Another thing is that the partial picture fits better with the narrative of expensive Spain.

The average German salary: 4,013 euros gross per month

Here's the real spark. The average salary in Germany amounts to 4,013 euros gross per month, according to the Federal Employment Agency, and is heading to 4,500 euros in 2026. The median annual full-time salary was 54,066 euros (Destatis 2025). The German minimum wage reaches 2,400 euros gross. In Spain, the average salary for a worker is around 1,500 euros. Of the 4,000 gross in Germany, after taxes and contributions, about 2,500 net remain: even so, more than the average gross in Spain.

With that wage gap, the perception of the "cheap supermarket" changes sign. It's not that prices are wrong in Spain; it's that purchasing power doesn't reach.

VAT, distribution, and a model that charges like Senegal and pays like Europe

There are structural reasons why Spain doesn't have prices in line with its income. Food VAT in Germany is 7%; in Spain, 10%. Spanish distribution is highly concentrated —Mercadona, Dia, Carrefour— and intermediaries sneak in between the field and the shelf, driving up prices. German diesel is paid at 1.60 euros per liter, only a tenth more than Spanish gasoline, when German per capita income is double. In other words: Spain applies European prices to salaries of less developed countries. It's not a coincidence, it's the design of the productive model.

The closing is provided by an example that doesn't belong to the basket: a hotel near Nuremberg, in the middle of high season, cost 98 euros per night for four people with breakfast included. In Spain, that price barely covers a double room in August. Life in Germany isn't cheap. Life in Spain is expensive for those earning a Spanish salary. The difference isn't in the aisle, but in the paycheck.