Chef’s Pencil’s new global study ranked 177 cities worldwide, comparing restaurant meal, coffee, and beer prices with local wages. The results show that Hungary’s two largest cities – Budapest and Debrecen – fall in the middle of the global affordability ranking, though both perform outstandingly when it comes to beer affordability.
Restaurants
In Budapest, a three-course mid-range meal (€27 per person) makes up about 2.0% of the average monthly salary (€1,380). This places the city 105th worldwide, roughly on par with Milan and Antwerp, but less affordable than Bratislava, Zagreb, or Prague.
Debrecen is ranked 118th: a meal (€22 per person) accounts for 2.2% of the monthly salary (€1,010). The result is similar to Porto in Portugal and Cluj-Napoca in Romania.
Coffee
In Debrecen, a daily cappuccino (€1.75) takes up 5.4% of monthly wages, ranking the city 102nd globally. In Budapest, the same habit (€2.70 per cup) consumes 5.9% of monthly income, placing the city 101st.
Beer
Both cities achieved excellent results for beer affordability.
- In Debrecen, drinking 10 beers per month (€1.40 per pint) consumes only 0.8% of income, ranking the city 14th best in the world.
- Budapest also performs strongly: ranked 26th globally, where the same habit (€2.70 per pint) accounts for just 1.0% of income.
Conclusion
While Hungarian cities place mid-table globally in terms of restaurant affordability, they are among the world’s best when it comes to beer prices, reflecting local brewing traditions and favorable price-to-wage ratios.
Click to read the full study in English – including visualizations and the ranking of all 177 cities.
Read also:
- Hungary among Europe’s beer-loving nations: Global consumption rankings revealed
- This is how much beer Hungarians drink yearly, and here are the consequences of it
Click for more news concerning drinks.
Palinka has become crazy expensive. I found a shot being the same price as a shot of Hennessy VS cognac on one restaurant menu and its’ the same if you want to buy anything in a store. In Toronto Canada I can buy a 750ml bottle of Zwack Kosher Szilva for $38.55 CAD which is 9200 HUF. A half litre in Hungary is 7106ft. Thus the same volume would be 2x 750ml = 18,400 ft in Toronto or 3×500 = 21,300 in Budapest. Believe me that lots of state taxes are applied on alcohol in Canada but the Hungarian product is more expensive in Hungary. On the other hand I find Hungarian wines to be a good bargain in stores when I visit.
The takeaway from all this is that beer is cheaper than coffee, which is surprising considering the extremely low cost to make a coffee compared to its retail price as well as the absence of any applicable excise duty. I only drink coffee at home as to do elsewhere is a collosal waste of money. Who knew than a daily coffee can cost nearly 6% of monthly income?
Hungarian alcohol prices are bizarre with low beer prices nearly everywhere and cheap supermarket wine (although not as low as Spain all things being equal), yet sparkling wine has become ridiculously expensive in recent years (nearly 3k Ft for a bottle of blue label Hungaria, the entry level bottle fermented stuff – cava and sekt are way cheaper in their home market) while spirits can be eye poppingly expensive. It’s my understanding that alcohol taxes in Hungary are low, yet I can buy a bottle of branded gin, vodka or whisky for less in a UK supermarket than any store in Hungary. Palinka used to be cheap in Hungary. No longer.