Why is chocolate so expensive — and where have prices risen most?

Overall consumer prices increased by 2.5% in the EU in 2025, based on the average annual rate of change.

The increase was slightly higher for food and non-alcoholic beverages at 3.3%. Among all food products, chocolate recorded the highest increase, 17.9% in the EU, according to Eurostat.

So why have chocolate prices increased the most in Europe? And which countries have experienced the strongest increases?

Chocolate prices have risen much more than many other key food products. For example, beef and veal rank third in the EU, with an increase of 10%.

This is about 8 percentage points (pp) lower. Inflation for eggs and butter was around 8%, about 10 points lower than chocolate.

Within EU countries, average annual consumer price inflation for chocolate in 2025 ranges from 6.6% in Slovakia to 32.6% in Poland.

If we include other European countries, the range extends from 1.6% in Albania to 44% in Türkiye.

Turkey’s figure is not directly comparable, as it reflects the category “chocolate, cocoa and cocoa-based food products” at an annual rate of change as of January 2026.

Turkey is an exception not only in terms of food inflation, but also in terms of overall inflation in Europe.

Estonia (31.5%), Lithuania (31.5%), Romania (26.1%), Latvia (25.9%) and Serbia (25.4%) also recorded increases of more than 25% in chocolate prices.

Inflation was also above the EU average in Sweden, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Greece, North Macedonia, Spain, Finland, Czechia, the Netherlands and Germany, ranging between 18% and 22.5%.

Cyprus, Luxembourg, Italy, Kosovo and Switzerland are among the countries with the lowest chocolate inflation, all below 12%.

Among other major EU economies, the increase was 14% in France. Belgium, an important center for the chocolate industry, saw an increase of 12.3%.

In the UK, chocolate prices increased by 16.2% in 2025 according to the ONS.

**”**Chocolate prices in Europe rose sharply in 2025, mainly due to an unprecedented rise in global cocoa prices caused by severe supply disruptions,” Emiliano Magrini, an economist at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), told Euronews Business.

He noted that cocoa production is heavily concentrated in a few West African countries, notably Ivory Coast and Ghana, which together account for most of the world’s supply.

In 2023-2024, production in both countries fell dramatically due to unfavorable weather conditions – particularly prolonged drought – and the spread of cocoa swollen shoot virus disease.

“These shocks have generated a significant global production shortfall and pushed stocks to historic lows, leaving markets extremely exposed to further disruptions and pushing cocoa prices to record levels,” Magrini added.

John Baffes, senior economist at the World Bank’s Prospect Group, highlighted that cocoa is a key input in chocolate production, accounting for around 10-20% of total costs.

“Cocoa prices increased from an average of $3.28/kg (€2.8) in 2023 to $7.33/kg in 2024 and $7.80/kg (€6.7) in 2025 – an increase of more than 120% between 2023 and 2024, the largest among the 70 commodities monitored by the World Bank and the largest in history of the cocoa market,” he said. Euronews Affairs.

He said such an increase reflected weather-related production deficits in West Africa (particularly Ivory Coast and Ghana, which together account for almost two-thirds of global cocoa supplies).

“This sharp rise in cocoa prices has driven up chocolate production costs and ultimately retail prices, despite cocoa’s relatively modest cost share,” Baffes added.

Emiliano Magrini pointed out that differences in chocolate inflation mainly reflect variations in the structure of the domestic market and the degree of integration of national chocolate industries.

Countries with a large and well-established chocolate manufacturing sector – such as Germany, France, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands (and Switzerland) – tend to see price increases lower than the EU average.

“In these markets, large, vertically integrated companies are better able to absorb rising cocoa costs by adjusting their margins, using long-term contracts or spreading costs across export markets,” he said.

An FAO economist noted that countries with smaller chocolate industries or more dependent on imports tend to experience a stronger pass-through of global cocoa price shocks to retail prices.

In several Central and Eastern European Member States, chocolate prices may respond more directly to rising input costs, probably because national value chains are shorter and offer less room for maneuver.

“Differences in labor costs, energy prices, prices of other key ingredients such as milk and sugar, exchange rates and the intensity of retail competition further contribute to variations between countries,” Magrini added.

In addition to income levels, national conditions and the cocoa content of chocolate, Baffes highlighted the structure of the industry.

This reflects vertical integration, the mix of multinational and domestic companies, branding and distribution networks influence how costs are passed on.

“Some companies absorb some of the cocoa price increases to protect their market share, while others pass them on more fully and more quickly,” he said.