It might make an interesting exercise to find out what people in other countries are being slugged for basic items- a loaf of bread, meat, fuel, and everyday things. All tariffs, taxes and subsidies aside, what are you shelling out?

I live not far from some of the biggest beef, sugar, and seafood producing areas in the world, and logic would imply that these items 'should' be rather affordable. Let's see.

To make the comparison a little clearer and on a level playing field, convert currency to U.S. Dollar. Convert here

Current prices in Brisbane, Australia (in USD)

1kg = 2.2 pounds

Unleaded Petrol: $0.64 litre (varies daily - this is a medium)
Jumbo Range Eggs: $2.55 (dozen)
Jumbo Free Range Eggs: $3.22 (dozen)
Loaf of Sandwich Bread: $2.00
Premium Beef Lean Mince 1kg: $8.95
Lamb Chops (Tenderloin) 1kg: $17.30
Lamb leg Bone (Roast) 1kg: $7.30
Topside Roast 1kg: $11.40
Large Chook 2kg: $8.20
Silverside 1kg: $5.20
Butter 1kg: $3.30
Full Cream Milk 1ltr: $1.20
Standard White Rice 1kg: $2.35
Potato (washed) 1kg: $2.70
Coke 2ltr: $1.90
Plain Flour 1kg: $0.75
White Sugar 1kg: $1.10
Local Cheddar 1kg: $7.00

That’ll do for a start, better go cook. For some reason I’ve become hungry.

Wot! No veggies? Potatoes don't count because they are 80% water, besides they were $1.63/kg today when I went shopping. You must have been in the wrong supermarket.

Stick with the bananas. Whole food, don't need to eat anything else in life and you will still survive and they were only $0.98/kg.

You also eat far too much meat. (Yes Mum!) Plus you neglected to mention the price of a bottle of vodka, or half a dozen stubbies. Get your priorities right.

Current prices in the Netherlands:

Unleaded Petrol: $1.48 liter (varies depending on the distance to the Belgian or German border - further away means higher petrol prices)
Jumbo Range Eggs: these are hard to find, since the supermarkets agreed to not sell them anymore
Jumbo Free Range Eggs: $2.97 (10 eggs)
Loaf of Sandwich Bread: $1.54
Premium Beef Lean Mince 1kg: $5.57

Lamb Chops (Tenderloin)& Lamb leg Bone (Roast): I searched for prices on the internet, and the only thing I could find was the price of an entire lamb, $233 and it's yours!

Topside Roast 1kg: $8.63
Large Chook 2kg: $9.04
Silverside 1kg: $
Butter 1kg: $5.57 (is sold per 250 grams)
Full Cream Milk 1ltr: $0.86
Standard White Rice 1kg: $1.73
Potato (washed) 1kg: $0.25-1.25
Coke 1.5ltr: $1.11 (2 ltr is a very irregular bottle over here)
Plain Flour 1kg: $0.30
White Sugar 1kg: $0.98
Local Cheddar 1kg: $17.56 (not local, as that doesn't exist)


I'm off to the supermarket right now to check on the meat prices, as I don't eat meat very often. I'll edit them in later.

I went to three different supermarket in search for lamb, but to no avail. It's just not so common around here.

I couldn't find the silverside either, but that's mostly because I didn't know the exact Dutch translation of that meat. It made looking for it considerably harder.

Thanks for replying to the post Leau.

It would seem on the surface the Netherlands are about 20% better off than Australia for most basic items, EVEN for sugar and beef!

Do the Netherlands have their own meat and sugar industries or is it imported?

I just learned that there are five sugar factories in the Netherlands, responsible for processing 105,000 hectare (1 ha = 2.47 acres) of sugar beets. They even export sugar. Didn't know that.

There is a meat industry here - we have lots and lots of cows and pigs - but we also import meat. The "very special" steaks from Argentine cows for example. Or the kangaroo steaks.

It does look like it's cheaper to live here, maybe we should start comparing salaries...?

Being a clueless male, I have no idea what any of this stuff costs. My wife drags me out to get food for our two kids and five cats every few days or so and the bill always comes to $119.60. Does that help?

I can state definitively, though, that a tiny 4 ounce jar of Vegemite sells for $3.67 at the one place in my county that carries it.

But happily (and I thank FT and more specifically two of our antipodean members) I will not have to pay that price for quite some time.

The price of gasoline (87 octane, unleaded) US$ 1.65/gallon (US gallon, not Imperial gallon)= AUS$0.44/litre. I'll check my grocery receipt when I go shopping for the other items, but in what aisle do I look for silversides and chook?

Chook = chicken (check out the poultry area)
Silverside = although yourdictionary.com says it is fish, in Oz it is meat of the beef variety, sort of from the top of the leg bit (check out the butchery)

Silverside is also called corned beef - that help? (although technically i think there is a differnce but to me it's interchangable)

I knew that's what it was called but I couldn't bring it to mind.

We love corned beef! We're waiting for the big sale for St. Paddy's Day before buying a year's supply. We also like a fresh brisket of beef for making barbecue beef. Both are very tasty and relatively inexpensive when you consider that there is no waste.

I`m currently paying 97 cents per litre for diesel,I believe unleaded is about 88 cents per litre here in Sydney. I assume that Copago is paying more? A packet of 25 cigarettes costs about 10 dollars and sometimes a little more though they are slightly cheaper if you buy a carton at a supermarket or tobacconist. In a supermarket coke costs 1.67-1.87, in a petrol station 3.40. The average icecream price seems to be about 2.50. On the seedy side of town dope, I believe, is selling for 50.00 per 2 grams and the newish drug GBH[liquid xtc] can be had for as little as 2.50. I paid 10.70 for 3 schooners[a schooner is 425mls or 15oz] of beer the other night. All prices quoted are in Australia dollars.

These are the prices at my local mini-supermarket today (converted to US$ at the overnight rate of $1.8098 = £1)

Unleaded Petrol: $1.48 litre UK average for high-octane fuel (according to the Automobile Association). Maybe 5 ¢ or 6¢ less for lower octane.

Jumbo Free Range Eggs: $5.79 (dozen)

Loaf of Sandwich Bread: 70¢ for the supermarket’s pre-sliced wrapped stuff. Up to $1.70 or so for a freshly baked loaf from a bakery.

Premium Beef Lean Mince 1kg: $6.15

Large Chook 2kg: $7.75

Butter 1kg: $5,21 to $7.09

Full Cream Milk 1ltr: $0.92

White Rice 1kg: $1.26

Coke 2ltr: $2.32

Plain Flour 1kg: $0.80

Local Cheddar 1kg: $7.98

The place seemed to be rather low on meat at 8:00 a.m. (I couldn’t find any lamb chops!), and I had no idea where to look for sugar.