Advertisement

Denmark is world's priciest country for a Starbucks coffee

The Local Denmark
The Local Denmark - [email protected]
Denmark is world's priciest country for a Starbucks coffee
A Starbucks in Copenhagen. File photo: Mathias Løvgreen Bojesen/Ritzau Scanpix

If you need a regular caffeine hit, Denmark might just be harder on your wallet than anywhere else.

Advertisement

According to a new analysis, the Finder’s Starbucks Index, the Scandinavian nation ranks 1st out of the 76 countries included in the index for the most expensive coffee.

A tall Starbucks latte costs $6.05 in Copenhagen, over three times more expensive than the cheapest coffee found in Istanbul, Turkey, at $1.78, according to Finder’s Starbucks Index.

Finder, which is not affiliated with the coffee chain giant, created Starbucks Index to compare the differences in price for the same cup of coffee in 76 countries around the world.

Although the cost of a coffee includes other variables not taken into account by the index, such as the cost of raw coffee, local labour costs and taxes, the analysis is an informal way to compare local prices for a common item between countries.

All prices in the index are converted to US dollars.

After Denmark, which tops the list at $6.05, the top five most expensive countries or territories for a Starbucks are Switzerland ($5.94), Finland ($5.40), Macau ($5.21) and Luxembourg ($5.18).

Nordic neighbour Norway is in Europe’s top 5, at $5.14, while Sweden is a comparative bargain at $4.34.

The index doesn’t specify whether Istanbul’s $1.78 Starbucks was found on the Bosphorus city’s European or Asian side (or both), but the cheapest EU coffee in the index can be bought for $2.20 in Bulgaria.

 

Finder’s Index also looked at the GDP-per-capita value for each country alongside the coffee cost in US dollars to see how far each country deviates from the average.

In Denmark, a coffee costs $6.05, whereas the expected coffee cost based on the country’s GDP of over $60,000 per capita is $4.20, according to Finder’s Index’ calculations.

That means the coffee is 44 percent more expensive in Denmark than it should be based on GDP – also the worst performance of any country in the list.

But coffee prices should be expected to be higher in wealthier countries given factors impacting the cost of goods and services, including the local cost of raw materials, production and labour costs, taxes, and retailer pricing strategies, the report’s authors note.

As such, the figures reflect local purchasing power rather than true currency valuation.

You can read the Finder’s Starbucks Index analysis in full here

READ ALSO: OPINION: Why an afternoon at Starbucks shows the best of Danish multiculturalism

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also