Lithuanians have long treated nearby Polish towns as convenient destinations for cheaper groceries and household goods. But a recent report by Lithuanian television channel TV3 from the border city of Suwałki suggests that the golden age of cross-border bargain hunting may be fading, as prices in Poland climb and the gap with Lithuania narrows.
For years, residents from Lithuanian towns such as Šakiai, Vilkaviškis or Kalvarija would cross into northeastern Poland to fill their cars with cheaper food, detergents and alcohol. That practice has not disappeared, but it is now increasingly targeted and selective. As one shopper bluntly told TV3 in Suwałki: “It’s not worth going. If you don’t buy meat, it’s not worth it.”
According to data cited by TV3 from Eurostat, food in Polish shops is currently about 12 percent cheaper than in Lithuania. That still represents a noticeable saving, but it is far less dramatic than the 25–30 percent difference seen a few years ago. With the Polish złoty stronger than it used to be and prices in Poland rising steadily, the classic shopping basket arbitrage is no longer as generous as Lithuanian consumers remember.
Interviews conducted outside a supermarket in Suwałki show how the pattern of purchases has shifted. Shoppers say that what still clearly pays off are meat, sausages and other cold cuts. Ahead of holidays, Lithuanian families continue to stock up in Poland on household chemicals, groats, pasta, cooking oil and similar staples. A woman from Šakiai explained that her family makes the trip once or twice a month and focuses on products where the price difference remains obvious: food, alcohol, toilet paper and meat from a local butcher. She emphasised that savings are real only when one buys in volume and knows the prices at home well enough to avoid being fooled by Polish promotions that look attractive but are no cheaper than in Lithuania.
Others are more sceptical. Albinas from Vilkaviškis summed up his impressions with a mixture of resignation and frustration: “It’s terrible how everything has become more expensive. It’s not worth going. If you don’t buy meat, it’s not worth it.” In his view, the era when almost every item in a Polish supermarket felt like a bargain compared to Lithuanian shelves is over. Now, only selected categories justify the travel and time costs.
A resident of Lithuanian Kalvarija offered a middle position. If someone drives across the border “for one sausage”, she said, the trip is obviously pointless. But if a family plans “normal shopping” and fills the trolley, it still pays off, especially when buying larger quantities for the household. At the same time, she pointed out that “prices are rising everywhere”, blurring the traditional image of Poland as a consistently cheap neighbour.
Economist Aleksandras Izgorodinas from Citadele bank in Lithuania argues that the declining motivation to shop in Poland is not just about Polish inflation. Two structural changes matter: the strengthening of the złoty and the improvement in Lithuanians’ purchasing power at home. A stronger Polish currency makes Polish goods more expensive when converted back into euros, while rising incomes in Lithuania reduce the relative benefit of chasing small savings abroad.
According to Izgorodinas, cross-border shopping still makes sense for people living near the frontier, who can combine a quick trip with other errands or leisure activities. However, for residents of Vilnius or other cities further inland, the calculation is different. Once fuel, time and the wear and tear of a long drive are taken into account, travelling to Poland “just for food” probably no longer pays. For them, any remaining advantage in meat or specific products is outweighed by logistical and opportunity costs.
The changing economics of shopping tourism also reflect broader macroeconomic trends in the region. As Poland’s economy has grown and wages have risen, domestic demand has pushed prices upward. At the same time, Lithuania has experienced its own wave of inflation, but with incomes catching up toward Western European levels, Lithuanians are less dependent on the tactic of filling the car abroad to balance their household budgets.
Still, habits built over decades do not disappear overnight. Polish border towns such as Suwałki have adapted to foreign customers, offering Lithuanian-language signage, staff who can communicate across the border and product lines tailored to their northern neighbours’ tastes. Even if the crowds thin slightly, these ties are unlikely to vanish completely. Instead, the relationship is becoming more mature and differentiated: fewer spontaneous “cheap shopping” trips from Vilnius, more targeted visits by those who live close or who want to stock up before Christmas or Easter.
For Polish retailers, the shift is a reminder that relying on foreign customers is risky when currency movements and relative price changes can erode the advantage quickly. For Lithuanian consumers, it marks the end of an era in which Poland was seen almost as an extended discount aisle of their own supermarket. The gap is not closed yet – meat and some groceries remain meaningfully cheaper – but the days when everything from detergent to pasta was automatically a bargain across the border are clearly receding into memory.
