Sweden Food Prices 2024: What Does Food Cost in Sweden?

Exploring Sweden's Food and Drink Costs and Grocery Prices, While Travelling in our Campervan

Sweden being a Scandinavian country comes with a stigma of being expensive! So, is Sweden expensive to visit? We spent 2 weeks in Sweden and in that time, we had to do a big food shop to restock our campervan cupboards. In this blog we breakdown the cost of an average food shop, cost of meals and we compare the costs to the UK. Read on to find out about Swedens Food Prices.

The average prices for food in Norway. Protein: - Beef Mince 81.50NOK (400g) - Chicken 80.80NOK (430g) - Pork - Hot dogs 41.00NOK (480g) - Salami 32.90NOK (130g) - Ham 31.80 (100g) - Chorizo 64.70 (200g) - Eggs 32.60 (12eggs) Dairy - Cheese 139.00 (1kg) - Milk 18.90 (1L) - Brown Cheese 43.90 (480g) Fruit and Veg - Peppers 61.70 (per/kg) - Lettuce 27.79 (per lettuce) Onion 27.79 (per 4) 39.57per kg — The cost of an average shop in Sweden (£65.87) . *All these costs were from September 2023.

We entered Sweden from Norway with empty cupboards in hope of some cheaper food (explore Norway costs here). This means we ended up doing a big shop as soon as we arrived. We went to two supermarkets while in Sweden: ICA and Coop. These costs are from Coop. Even though the supermarket was large they didn't have any trolleys which I found strange and a struggle for our rather large shop.

Supermarkets

There are a few common supermarkets in Sweden, ICA, Coop, Willy's and Lidl were the ones we saw most regularly. We ended up in Coop for convenience, however, Willy's is more of a budget supermarket. It is important to note that we noticed a huge difference in the choice and variety of produce in Sweden's supermarkets compared to Norway's supermarkets.

Food Prices In Sweden

Let’s get into the price of food. How much is food in Sweden? I’ve broken it down by type first (protein, carbs, veg etc…). Then below I’ve worked out the cost for some common meals we made in Sweden. At the top is an average food shop for this country so we can compare it to other places we've visited. Below I have also compared the Sweden Food Prices to UK’s Tesco to allow you to see the difference.

Protein	Dairy and Eggs	Fruit and Veg	Carbs
Beef Mince 123SEK/kg (£9.23)	1.5LMilk 16.50SEK (£1.24)	4 Banana 18.87SEK (£1.42)	500g Pasta 16.95SEK (£1.27)
500g Chicken 113SEK (£8.48)	500g Cheese 63.95SEK(£4.80)	Tomatoes 17.50SEK (£1.31)	1kgRice 49.95SEK (£3.75)
Ham 43.00SEK (£3.23)	250g Butter	1kg Potatoes 17.73SEK(£1.33)	1100gBread 37.50SEK (£2.82)
	6 Eggs 19.95SEK (£1.50)	Tinned Tomatoes 13.50SEK (£1.00)	Noodles 14.50SEK (£1.09)

We found meat to be consistently expensive in Sweden, however fresh produce seemed quite reasonable. Sweden is known for Swedish Meatballs so we couldn't leave without trying them. The cost of Swedish Meatballs in their supermarket is 25.95SEK (£1.95) so quite cheap and delicious. As Brits ourselves we love a cuppa and you might be interested to know we found PG Tips at a very reasonable price in an ICA supermarket.

The Cost Of Meals

Now, you know the cost of different items I’m going to work out the cost of different meals that we made in our campervan to keep costs low. We often cook from scratch (after listening to ultra-processed people) so we always keep some essentials in the van such as our spices. These we bought over from the UK but all the other ingredients are included in the price.

Spag Bol - £4.60 (£2.30pp)
Pork stir fry - £6.65 (£3.32pp)
Mushroom pasta (vegetarian) - £2.70 (£1.06pp)

This means Sweden's cost per day on food could be as little as £5 per person! Not too bad really, but remember this is from making our own meals in our campervan.

Food and Drink Facts about Sweden. A buffet of a variety of foods. This is a must expereince when in Sweden. The word actual means an open sandwich but this is a culinary experience you need to try.Kotbuller is the name for the humble Swedish Meatball. They are a combination of ground beef and ground pork with allspice and nutmeg. and are delicious!An average 3 course meal out in Sweden will cost you around £30ICA, Willy’s, Coop and Lidl are some supermarkets you will find in Sweden. Willy’s and Lidl are known as the budget options. We found all to have a good variety of fresh produce and products.

Comparing Sweden's Food Prices to the UK

Lets compare prices to the UK. Sweden, being in Scandinavia has always been seen as an expensive country. It is also worth noting that we found some items in the Swedish supermarkets to be more expensive than in Norway! But lets see what is the real difference in food price?

Item	Cost Sweden (£)	Cost UK (£)
500g Pasta	£1.27	£0.41
500g Chicken	£8.48	£4.70
Pack of Vine Tomatoes	£1.31	£1.20
Banana per kg	£2.25	£1.01

Tips to Keeping Costs Low

1. Bulk Buy - stock up on staples such as rice, pasta, oil and toilet roll so you don't have to buy them in Sweden.

2. Eat Vegetarian Meals – It goes without saying meat is expensive in Sweden so eating some vegetarian meals will save you money along the way.

3. Look for Own Brand– Look for supermarket own brand items and budget supermarkets like Willys

4. Pay with Revolut for low or no transaction fees and a good exchange rate. (Read more about Revolut here)

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