The Truth About Inflation in Europe Right Now

The smell of figs on the boil. It brought me back to my childhood. 

This was last Sunday. My wife, Yulia, and I had just returned from eight days in Rovinj, on Croatia’s Istrian Peninsula.  

During one of our first days wandering Rovinj’s old city, I spied ripe figs in a farmers market and told Yulia to remind me to return and buy some before we left.  

Thing is, I grew up hating figs. 

My grandfather loved them. So much so that he planted two fig trees in our backyard. My grandmother used to pluck the figs from those trees to make boatloads of fig jam for my grandfather, but something about the color of the jam—brown—and all those tiny little seeds turned me off. 

And yet when I saw those figs in the farmers market in Rovinj, I instantly had an urge to make fig jam. I knew from our travels that Yulia loves figs, so I figured I would surprise her and make some jam for her. 

All of which is neither here nor there, other than that fact that it gives context for why I bought a kilo of Istrian figs. 

And it’s that kilo of figs that’s the star of today’s dispatch. 

See, those figs, all 2.2 pounds of them, cost me just $4.66. That seemed crazy cheap to me. Some internet research shows they cost about $7 a pound in the U.S. (though maybe they’re cheaper at local farmers markets). 

Which brings me (very slowly) to my point: the cost of living in Europe. 

Now, certainly, Europe can be quite the pricy place. Paris, London, Zurich, Dublin, Copenhagen—I could go on—are bonkers expensive. Electricity and petrol costs are over the top right now. And Europe, like America, is definitely struggling with inflation. 

But depending on how you structure your life, many parts of the continent are hugely affordable in terms of U.S. dollars and U.S. incomes and savings/retirement account balances.  

There are many, many beautiful, safe, peaceful places across Europe where your money stretches much further than you might expect when it comes to the daily costs of living. 

Yulia and I routinely shop the farmers markets we find in every city we visit, and I can assure you that fresh fruits, veggies, jams and honey, bread, sausages, meats, and seafood are shockingly affordable. Those figs were just one example of what we’ve experienced this summer—a summer of otherwise torrid inflation. 

A few weeks back, we stopped for breakfast in Malaga’s central market, on Spain’s Costa del Sol. There, a kilo of donut peaches was $1.50, the equivalent of $0.68 per pound. Same with a kilo of bright red, super plump tomatoes. Plums were $0.55 per pound.  

At a supermarket in Portugal’s Algarve, the equivalent of a pound of carrots was just $0.31. The same weight of yellow onions was $0.35, while potatoes were just $0.45.  

I am sure those prices are up from last year, given the inflation in Europe. But they are still highly affordable in U.S. dollar terms. Even Walmart, America’s low-cost leader, can’t compete with those prices. 

So, while I personally complain about my costs in Prague having risen amid Europe’s inflationary binge, I realize my reality is relative. I know many Americans are meaningfully struggling with the everyday cost increases that are happening Stateside. 

Here, inflation hits different. 

I mean, even though prices are up, I still feel richer and freer with my money because the financial pinch is minimal relative to my pocketbook’s health. Which, to me, means Europe is sort of a bargain destination in an inflationary era.  

And that’s doubly true in an age when the U.S. dollar is rising against the euro. (That will prove temporary, but still…) 

For anyone who has ever thought of coming to the continent to live or work, many parts of Europe remain highly affordable. 

And as for that $4.66 worth of Istrian figs…the jam is quite tasty. Yulia was both happy and impressed.