From the week of 7 September to the week of 19 October 2026 the price of cucumbers leaving the packing station was higher than the average of the same weeks of 2023, 2024 and 2025 in all five EU countries with comparable data (for France, to the week of 5 October), according to a Wikifarmer analysis of the weekly prices member states report to the European Commission. In Italy, Bulgaria and France this year's price was the highest for these weeks since 2011, while in Spain, where the gap with the average was largest, the price rose every week from late September to the latest week with data.
In Spain and Bulgaria the price was more than 30% higher
In Spain the average price over the seven weeks was €0.99/kg, against an average of €0.73/kg in the same weeks of 2023 to 2025, 35.5% higher, and in Bulgaria €1.56/kg against €1.16/kg, 34.2% higher (European Commission, Agri-food Data Portal). In Italy the price reached €1.33/kg, 29.5% above the three-year average, even though in the latest week it fell to €0.65/kg, less than half the price of the week before; without that week the gap would be 39.9%. In France, where the comparison covers five weeks, to the week of 5 October, the price was €1.87/kg, 18.2% above the average, and in Hungary €1.41/kg, 10.8% above. In the first four countries the 2026 price was also higher than in each of the three previous years taken separately, while in Hungary 2024 had a slightly higher price, €1.44/kg.
Source: Wikifarmer analysis of the weekly prices member states report to the European Commission (Agri-food Data Portal).
In three countries the price was the highest for these weeks since 2011
Compared with every year that has prices for the same weeks, this year's price was the highest since 2011 in Italy and Bulgaria, which have data for 15 years, and in France, where only 2020 is missing. In Spain it was the highest since 2014, when the average price of weeks 39 to 43 reached €1.06/kg, against €1.01/kg this year over the same weeks. All comparisons are in current prices, without removing the inflation of recent years.
In Spain the price rose again in October
The Spanish price leaving the packing station had fallen to €0.65/kg in the week of 21 September and then rose every week, to €0.76/kg in the week of 28 September, €1.09/kg in the week of 5 October, €1.24/kg in the week of 12 October and €1.28/kg in the week of 19 October. The prices of the weeks of 12 and 19 October were the highest for those weeks in every year with data since 2011, and the price of the week of 5 October the highest since 2014, so the seven-week average hides a path that started low in late September.
The Madrid wholesale market also had a higher price in September
At Madrid's central wholesale market, Mercamadrid, the most frequent selling price of short Spanish-type cucumbers, weighted by the quantities sold, was €1.66/kg in September 2026, 25.1% above the September average of 2023 to 2025 and the highest September price since 2019, the first year of the data used (Ayuntamiento de Madrid, Mercamadrid). In August the same price was €1.29/kg, and the Mercamadrid data run to September, so they do not yet cover the October rise. Of the cucumbers sold at Mercamadrid in September, 39.4% came from Almería and 25.9% from Murcia. The wholesale price is a different stage of the market from the packing station price, so it shows the direction without being directly comparable.
Greece and Germany can only be compared with 2025
Greece and Germany have weekly cucumber prices for these weeks only from 2025, so for both countries the comparison is with last year alone. In Greece the seven-week average was €0.65/kg against €0.56/kg in 2025, 15.0% higher, but in the last two weeks the price was below last year's, €0.65/kg against €0.70/kg in the week of 12 October and €0.60/kg against €0.83/kg in the week of 19 October. Earlier in the period the Greek rise over last year was larger, as the comparison of vegetable prices in Athens and the EU we published in October showed. In Germany the average of the same weeks was €0.68/kg against €0.54/kg a year earlier, 27.2% higher.
The comparison matters to those who grow and buy cucumbers
The packing station price is the price of cucumbers sorted and packed, ready for the wholesale trade or the buyer, as each country's national average, so it is neither the price the grower receives nor the shelf price. It matters to those in commercial cucumber growing who sell to packing stations or cooperatives, and to traders and retail chains that buy from countries with different prices. Because each country reports a different mix of varieties, percentage changes within each country compare more reliably than price levels between countries.
The picture for cucumbers resembles that of other vegetables in the same weeks, since in September and October tomato prices were above their 2023 to 2025 average in most EU countries with data. The data show how prices moved, not what caused the movement, and they are not a forecast. The Commission's next weekly prices will show whether the rise continues as the northern hemisphere winter begins.
A single year can be unusually cheap or dear, which is why the comparison is with a three-year average. In Italy, for example, this year's price was 41.0% above 2025 but 29.5% above the three-year average, and in France 39.5% and 18.2% respectively. The analysis uses the weekly packing station (ex-packaging station) prices of cucumbers, all types and varieties, that member states report to the European Commission as national averages in euros per 100 kg, retrieved on 2 November 2026. For each country it uses the weeks from 37 to 43, the weeks of 7 September to 19 October 2026, that have a price in 2026 and in each of 2023, 2024 and 2025, provided there are at least four, so for France the comparison covers weeks 37 to 41. The 2023 to 2025 average is the simple average of the three yearly averages, and changes are simple percentage changes in current prices. For the comparison with every year since 2011, each year is compared with 2026 over the weeks that have a price in both years, provided there are at least four. The Netherlands and Poland, which have no prices for 2023 to 2025, and Austria and Slovakia, which have no prices in 2026, are not included. In Italy the price was the same, €1.40/kg, for three consecutive weeks before the fall in the week of 19 October to €0.65/kg. For Hungary, which does not use the euro, prices are given in euros and the analysis does not separate the effect of exchange rates. The Mercamadrid price is monthly and covers one variety, short Spanish-type cucumbers, as the most frequent selling price weighted by the quantities of all origins. The Commission's latest prices may be revised. All figures were recomputed independently from the original files.
Sources
- European Commission. (2026). Agri-food Data Portal, API guide and fruit and vegetable supply chain prices. Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development.
- Ayuntamiento de Madrid. (2026). Mercamadrid, volume and price of products traded. Portal de Datos Abiertos.
