Vegetable prices around the world: where is it the cheapest to become a vegetarian?

Since 1977, World Vegetarian Day has been celebrated on October 1st, kick-starting Vegetarian Awareness Month. According to a global survey from 2018, 5% of the world’s population are vegetarians. Plant-based foods are becoming an important part of the diet for people who quit eating meat. In this study, Picodi.com analysts compared the prices of the most common vegetables in 98 countries.

We took a closer look at potatoes, tomatoes, onion and lettuce prices.

Among the 98 countries considered, the highest prices were noted in Japan, South Korea, Puerto Rico, and Switzerland. These countries were at the bottom of all the vegetable price rankings.

Tomato prices are very low in Egypt and India — under Rs 68 and Rs 79 per kilogram. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, since these countries are the two largest producers of this red vegetable. In Pakistan, the average price of 1 kilogram of tomatoes amounts to Rs 81 — 3rd place in the ranking. In Japan, tomato lovers have to pay 996 per kilogram. Similar prices can be found in South Korea — 953/kg.

In the ranking of potato prices, Pakistan is placed 1st with a price of Rs 55 per kilogram. However, in Puerto Rico, South Korea and Japan the price is 10 times higher than in Pakistan (Rs 562, Rs 592, and Rs 608 per kilogram respectively).

In the ranking of onion prices, Pakistan placed 3rd. One kilogram of this vegetable costs around Rs 54 in this country. Turkey and Uzbekistan can boast even cheaper onions — Rs 47 and Rs 48 respectively.

The average price of lettuce in Pakistan is Rs 53 per head (4th place). Apart from Pakistan, the lowest price of this vegetable was recorded in Uzbekistan (Rs 43/head), Egypt (Rs 49), and Nepal (Rs 52). On the other hand, Icelanders, Norwegians and Puerto Ricans pay the most for lettuce — around Rs 430 per head.

Given the prices of these four vegetables, we have created a sample basket consisting of; 1 kg of tomatoes, 1 kg of potatoes, 1 kg of onion and a head of lettuce. The best price for such a basket can be found in Egypt (Rs 245), Pakistan (Rs 243), and Turkey (Rs 301). The Japanese and South Koreans would have to pay 8 times more for it — almost Rs 2400.

With such high prices, it is worth looking for bargains. Picodi offers cashback and discount codes in stores such as Modanisa, Myprotein and Foreo, which will help you save money on your groceries.

Methodology

Vegetable prices come from numbeo.com, where data is collected from hundreds of thousands of internet users from around the world. Local currencies were converted into zlotys using the average exchange rate for the first half of September 2021, according to Google Finance. Vegetable production statistics were taken from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Public Use

All the data and infographics presented in this report can be freely used for both commercial and non-commercial purposes as long as you indicate the author of the research (Picodi.com) with a link to this subpage. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us: research@picodi.com.