The main reason is the behaviour of the Belgian consumer, who is more likely to choose more expensive products compared to shoppers in neighbouring countries; the so-called “first price” products, the cheapest available, are much less likely to be bought here. This raises the average price for a representative shopping basket in the case of the Belgian shopper.

As well as consumer preferences, business behaviour also plays a role, the survey shows. Supermarkets in Belgium are less likely to be in tight competition with each other, with no sign of the fierce price wars common in the Netherlands. For one thing, selling at a loss is not allowed in Belgium, which rules out the sort of tactic used over the border, where attractive offers are made at rock-bottom prices to lure the customer into the store.

Belgium has a higher standard of shop overall, according to Chris Moris of the food retail federation Fevia. The possibility exists to shop in stores like Aldi and Lidl, but “individual consumer choice and/or incomplete market information ensures that a large number of consumers are prepared to pay more for the same product,” Moris said.

The consumer’s apparent indifference to competition – the market leader among the top three supermarket chains, Delhaize, is generally considered the most upscale – pushes prices up. “The climate is also much more lax,” explained Nico De Bie of consumer organisation Test-Aankoop. The government virtually turns a blind eye to price-fixing agreements, so competition here is nowhere near as tough as in the Netherlands or Germany, he said.

Other factors influencing prices are the cost of raw materials, which affects the price of transport; wage costs, which have gone up 5% over the last year in Belgium; and the cost of agriculture, although unprocessed Belgian products, such as potatoes and cauliflower, still compete reasonably well. Raw material prices actually went down in 2009, and the reason for the wide variance between the main supermarkets and the deep-discounters, De Tijd newspaper explained, is that the big chains take profit margins almost twice the size of the low-price chains.

The effect of agricultural prices is cyclical and also global, warned Luc Ardies of Unizo, the union for small businesses, while advising against rash political reactions to the price news. “Belgium is temporarily more expensive at the moment,” he said. “But the Belgian consumer could soon go back to getting a cheaper deal than consumers in France or the Netherlands.”

Food accounts for a total of 20.8% of the household budget on average – 8.2% on fresh food and 12.6% on processed food. Industrial products, on the other hand, take up nearly 31% of spending, and that item has seen a price rise of 1.4% over the year. That includes small increases on cars (0.5%) and clothing (0.3%), larger increases on newspapers and magazines (3.3%) and water bills (5.1%), and even some price reductions on computers (16.7%) and audio-visual equipment (11.4%).

Services account for just over 37% of the budget, and the story there has been one of prices climbing, if not by much. The overall services bill went up by 2.6%, with increases ranging from housing (2.2%) to restaurants (3.6%) to health insurance (6.3%) to plane tickets (9.2%). The only exception: a tiny 0.5% fall in the cost of communications: telephone, mobile, internet.

Typical shopping baskets by country
                                                       

                                                        Belgium Netherlands Germany

Kellogg's Corn Flakes 750gr       €3.09      €2.24             €2.73
Evian water 6 x 1.5l                         4.09         5.58               5.22
Alpro chocolate milk 1l                   1.95         1.51              1.73
Bertoli olive oil 1l                              8.59         7.20              6.41
Becel margarine                              5.55         2.56              2.77
Iglo creamed spinach 750gr         2.09         0.93              1.38
Potatoes                                            1.01         1.29              2.13
Cauliflower                                        2.69         2.79              2.13
Total                                                  €29.06     €24.10         €24.50