Malta was left out of Deutsche Bank Research's “Mapping the World's Prices 2026” report, which compared iPhone 17 Pro prices across 41 countries. But a check of local retail prices suggests the island would sit uncomfortably close to the top of that list – more expensive than Italy, France, Spain, Germany and the UK, Europe's five largest economies.
The report, covered by Euronews this week, priced the same 256GB model worldwide and found stark differences driven by taxes, tariffs and currency swings. Turkey topped the ranking at €2,222 – more than double the US price – followed by Brazil (€1,937), Egypt (€1,605), Hungary (€1,565) and Mexico (€1,420). At the other end, Japan (€961) was the only market cheaper than the US (€1,012), with South Korea matching the US price exactly.
Where Malta would land
Malta has no official Apple online store, so it wasn't part of the survey. Apple Premium Partner iCentre lists the identical iPhone 17 Pro (256GB) at €1,359 - the same model and storage tier used in the Deutsche Bank report.
Slotted into the ranking, Malta's €1,359 falls just below Mexico (€1,420) and above Italy (€1,332), the most expensive of Europe's five biggest economies in the report. France (€1,323), Spain (€1,312), Germany (€1,293) and the UK (€1,265) all undercut Malta's price too. Only Turkey, Brazil, Egypt, Hungary and Mexico are confirmed to be pricier, which would place Malta roughly sixth to ninth among the 41 markets - and among the three or four most expensive in Europe, in the same range as Hungary. Deutsche Bank has not published its full 41-market list, so an exact rank can't be confirmed, but the comparison points available leave little doubt Malta sits near the top.
Against the US benchmark of €1,012, Malta's €1,359 works out to roughly 34 per cent more - a steeper premium than Switzerland's 17 per cent or the UK's 25 per cent, though still short of Hungary's roughly 55 per cent.
A low-VAT market with a high price
What makes Malta's position notable is that its standard VAT rate, 18 per cent, is lower than Hungary's 27 per cent, Italy's 22 per cent, Spain's 21 per cent, and France's and the UK's 20 per cent - among the lowest in the EU. Deutsche Bank's report points to tax and currency as the main forces behind Europe's widening price gap with the US since 2017. In Malta's case, neither fully explains the premium: with one of Europe's lower VAT rates, the price should logically undercut Italy, France, Spain and Germany, not exceed all four.
The more likely explanation is market size. Malta has never had an official Apple online store, leaving the market to premium resellers, whose margins and small-market logistics costs appear to outweigh the VAT saving - a dynamic the report doesn't capture because Malta wasn't in the sample.
Methodology note
Deutsche Bank's figures are drawn from official Apple store websites as of mid-June 2026, or online retailers where no official store exists - the same approach used here for Malta, via Apple Premium Partner iCentre. Prices for the same 256GB iPhone 17 Pro were converted to euros for comparison.
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