Greater Region · price levels
Trier, Thionville, Arlon: nearly one employee in two in Luxembourg lives on the other side of the border and compares prices every day. This page quantifies the real gaps between Luxembourg and its three neighbours, from Eurostat's price level indices and the pump prices surveyed by the European Commission. It complements the indexation tracker, which compares inflation rates: here, we compare levels.
Living in Luxembourg costs 19% more than in France. Buying your tobacco there costs 57% less.
The cross-border paradox fits in one line: everyday prices (food, restaurants, services) are the highest in the area, but tax-driven prices (fuel, tobacco, alcohol against Belgium, subsidised energy) are kept low, and make people cross the border the other way.
Two readings. At the pump, prices are real and dated: the European Commission's weekly survey, converted into a 50-litre tank. For everything else, Eurostat publishes no euro prices but comparable levels: so we show what the same basket that costs 100 € in Luxembourg costs at the neighbours'.
Table 1 · At the pump: prices with taxes and a 50-litre tank
| Fuel | Luxembourg | France | Germany | Belgium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diesel, per litre | 2.081 € | 2.346 € | 2.266 € | 2.351 € |
| Diesel, 50 l tank | 104.05 € | 117.30 € (+13.25) | 113.30 € (+9.25) | 117.55 € (+13.50) |
| Petrol 95, per litre | 1.788 € | 2.229 € | 2.179 € | 1.989 € |
| Petrol 95, 50 l tank | 89.40 € | 111.45 € (+22.05) | 108.95 € (+19.55) | 99.45 € (+10.05) |
Source: Weekly Oil Bulletin, European Commission (DG ENER), survey of 19 October 2026, national average prices with taxes. In brackets: the extra cost of the tank compared with Luxembourg.
Table 2 · The 100 € Luxembourg basket, at the neighbours' prices
| 100 € in Luxembourg of… | Luxembourg | France | Germany | Belgium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food shopping | 100 € | 88 € | 82 € | 84 € |
| Tobacco | 100 € | 231 € | 139 € | 162 € |
| Alcoholic beverages | 100 € | 100 € | 85 € | 111 € |
| Restaurants and hotels | 100 € | 89 € | 91 € | 100 € |
| Clothing and footwear | 100 € | 90 € | 93 € | 90 € |
| Electricity, gas, fuels | 100 € | 134 € | 161 € | 134 € |
How to read: a grocery cart that costs 100 € in Luxembourg costs 82 € in Germany, at national average price levels. Calculation: 100 × neighbour's PLI ÷ Luxembourg's PLI, Eurostat price level indices (dataset prc_ppp_ind, year 2024, EU27 = 100). In green: the cheapest country in the row. National levels, not local ones: see the method note.
The price level index (PLI) places each country against the Union average (100): above it, more expensive; below it, cheaper. Each row reads horizontally: the further apart the dots, the more the border is worth the detour.
Figure 1 · Price levels by category, Luxembourg and neighbours (EU27 = 100)
Source: Eurostat, price level indices (prc_ppp_ind), year 2024, EU27 = 100. The vertical line marks the Union average. Exact values are in table 3.
The gaps are no market accident: the biggest ones are decided by taxation. Fuel, tobacco and alcohol carry excise duties set country by country; household energy is, in Luxembourg, kept artificially low by subsidies.
Where Luxembourg wins: tax-driven prices
Tobacco costs 57% less there than in France: the most spectacular gap in the Greater Region, long embraced by Luxembourg taxation, and the one that fills the border petrol stations from Dudelange to Schengen. Fuel follows the same low-excise logic: at the 19 October survey, a litre of diesel costs 2.081 € against 2.346 € in France and 2.351 € in Belgium. Household energy (electricity, gas) is the cheapest of the four countries, thanks to state caps and subsidies. The same mechanics in return: those subsidies slow the price index down, and so delay the next indexation tranche.
Where Luxembourg pays: everyday life
Everything containing local labour is more expensive: food shopping (+13% against France, +22% against Germany), restaurants and hotels, clothing. The highest indexed wages and commercial rents in the area end up on the bill. It is the flip side of the mechanism the tracker follows: indexation protects the purchasing power of Luxembourg wages, including cross-border workers', who then spend it at the lower prices of their country of residence.
National levels, not local prices. Eurostat's indices compare national average baskets: the "France" in the table is the whole of France, not Thionville; "Germany" is not the supermarket in Trier. Prices in the border area can deviate from the national average in both directions (commercial rents in Metz or Trier, cross-border competition squeezing margins on the Luxembourg side). The gaps shown are therefore solid orders of magnitude, not till receipts.
Comparable baskets, one reference year. The PLI is built by the purchasing power parities programme: identical or equivalent products surveyed in each country, aggregated with consumption weights. Latest year published for all four countries: 2024. As tax gaps move slowly, the picture holds between two vintages; only the pump prices in table 1 are fresh (weekly survey of 19 October 2026).
The "transport" category must be read with care. It aggregates vehicle purchases, fuel and transport services; Luxembourg's low level (96.4) owes much to fuel excise duties and free public transport, not to car prices. For fuel alone, trust table 1.
Comparing prices is not comparing budgets. A cross-border worker earns an indexed wage in Luxembourg and partly consumes at the prices of their country of residence: their real purchasing power depends on that split, on the commute, and on what they buy. This page quantifies price gaps; it does not say where life is "better".
Every figure on this page can be recomputed from this table and the fuel survey. The data is also served as open JSON: GET https://index.sitraka.lu/data/grande_region_prix.json
Table 3 · Price level indices by category (EU27 = 100)
| Category | Luxembourg | France | Germany | Belgium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Household consumption (all items) | 132.8 | 111.2 | 108.6 | 116.5 |
| Food and non-alcoholic beverages | 124.8 | 110.1 | 102.7 | 105.3 |
| Alcoholic beverages | 102.6 | 102.3 | 86.7 | 113.6 |
| Tobacco | 84.3 | 194.8 | 117.5 | 136.2 |
| Clothing and footwear | 109.1 | 97.8 | 101.2 | 98.2 |
| Electricity, gas and other fuels (housing) | 75.8 | 101.6 | 122.1 | 101.2 |
| Transport (vehicles, fuel, services) | 96.4 | 108.9 | 109.7 | 108.4 |
| Restaurants and hotels | 123.6 | 110.0 | 112.1 | 124.2 |
Source: Eurostat, prc_ppp_ind (price level indices, PLI_EU27_2020), year 2024, extracted on 25 October 2026. An index of 120 means: 20% above the EU27 average. In green: the cheapest country in the row.