From 7 September to 18 October 2026 vine tomatoes cost more than the average of the same weeks in 2023, 2024 and 2025 in all nine EU countries with comparable data, and round tomatoes in seven of nine, according to a Wikifarmer analysis of the weekly prices member states report to the European Commission. The autumn rise seen at the Athens Central Market is part of a wider European picture, in which Greece is among the countries with the smaller increases, while Italy, France, the Netherlands and Spain recorded the largest.
Vine tomatoes cost more in all nine countries with data
Compared with the 2023-25 average, the ex-packaging station price of vine tomatoes was 61.8% higher in Italy, where it reached €2.45 per kilogram, 57.2% higher in France, 47.3% in the Netherlands, 40.5% in Spain, 39.5% in Croatia, 20.6% in Belgium, 14.7% in Greece, 9.0% in Hungary and 4.8% in Portugal (European Commission, Agri-food Data Portal). The median rise across the nine countries is 39.5%, and in seven of them this year's price was higher than in each of the three previous years taken separately, the exceptions being Hungary and Portugal, where tomatoes cost more in 2024.
Round tomatoes cost more in seven of nine countries
For round tomatoes the rise against the 2023-25 average was 37.6% in France, 33.3% in Portugal, 27.1% in Spain, 26.2% in Belgium, 15.9% in the Netherlands, 14.6% in Greece, where the price was €1.20 per kilogram, and 12.8% in Hungary, while the price was 20.4% lower in Bulgaria and 26.9% lower in Romania. The median change across the nine countries is +15.9%.
Source: Wikifarmer analysis of the weekly prices member states report to the European Commission.
Cherry tomatoes and peppers also cost more in most countries
Cherry tomatoes, which in the Commission's data include cherry and other speciality types, cost more in five of six countries, up 47.7% in Italy, 41.1% in Hungary, 25.7% in France, 21.6% in the Netherlands and 14.3% in Greece, while in Spain they were 5.2% cheaper. Peppers cost more in all four countries that report a single price for all types, by 34.0% in Spain, 26.0% in Portugal, 10.9% in Hungary and 3.2% in Italy.
A comparison with 2025 alone makes the rise look larger in most cases
In autumn 2025 prices were low in several countries, so against last year alone this year's rises look much larger. For round tomatoes, for example, the price in Portugal was double last year's (+100.0%), in Spain 71.9% higher and in Greece 40.5% higher, while against the three-year average the rises are 33.3%, 27.1% and 14.6% respectively. This is why the comparison here uses the 2023-25 average, which complements the comparison with 2025 for aubergines, tomatoes and cucumbers published in October.
Wholesale markets in Madrid and Athens point the same way
At Madrid's central wholesale market, Mercamadrid, the average price of all tomatoes in September 2026, weighted by the quantities sold, was €2.86 per kilogram, 59.7% above the average for September 2023 to 2025 and the highest September price since 2019, the first year of the data used (Ayuntamiento de Madrid, Mercamadrid). Vine tomatoes cost €2.68 per kilogram there, 72.3% above the average of the three previous Septembers, and peppers €2.58, 24.6% above. At the Athens Central Market the prevailing price of tomatoes in the same weeks averaged €1.24 per kilogram, 11.8% above the 2023-25 average, and that of large peppers €1.47, 33.7% above, according to the OKAA daily price bulletins.
Packing station prices matter to growers and buyers
The ex-packaging station price is the price at which tomatoes leave the packing station, sorted and packed, for the wholesale market or the buyer, as a national average for each country, so it is neither the price the grower receives nor the shelf price. It matters to those growing tomatoes outdoors for profit 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 a country compare more reliably than price levels across countries.
The analysis uses the weekly ex-packaging station prices member states report to the European Commission, as national averages in euros per 100 kg, for weeks 37 to 42 of each year. For each country and product type it uses the 2026 weeks with a price, provided there are at least four, and the same weeks of each previous year, with at most one missing week per year. Because some countries have not yet reported all 2026 weeks, the comparison covers weeks 37 to 40 for the Netherlands, weeks 37 to 41 for French round tomatoes, weeks 37, 40, 41 and 42 for Spanish vine tomatoes and weeks 37, 38, 39 and 42 for Croatian vine tomatoes. Countries with less data, such as Italy for round tomatoes, are not included. The 2023-25 average is the simple mean of the three yearly averages, and changes are simple percentage changes in current prices. The Mercamadrid data are monthly and the OKAA data daily, so they show the direction and are not directly comparable with packing station prices. The latest prices may be revised. The data show how prices moved, not what caused the move, and they are not a forecast. All numbers 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.
- Central Markets and Fishery Organisation of Athens (OKAA). (2026). Price statistics bulletins. OKAA S.A.
