Food costs jump 30% higher
Prices have risen considerably in the four months since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Food prices have increased by more than 30% on average in Greece since the start of the Russian invasion in Ukraine four months ago.
Leading the move upward are flour, sunflower oil and pasta, while other categories of basic items, ranging from food to toilet paper, have also seen a surge in prices. The wave of price hikes is not expected to stop as long as the basic raw materials, packaging materials, as well as energy costs remain at extremely high levels.
Most companies have gone through two rounds of price adjustments since the beginning of the year, with a third expected in September. There are also cases of new price increases expected in the summer, with suppliers pointing out that those that those in stores today are very far from the real burden of production costs. The worst thing, they point out, is that no reliable forecast can be made about the duration and intensity of the hikes in raw material prices and energy costs, which makes any planning difficult.
A first sign of the course of June’s inflation, after May’s 11.3% rate, will come on Friday, when Eurostat announces its estimates for the harmonized index of consumer prices, while on July 8 the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) will announce the data for the national consumer price index.
Regarding food, especially, recall that the increases on an annual basis in May came to 12.1% and on a monthly basis to 1.6%. The latest data from supermarkets, compiled by market research firm IRI, show that in the week to June 12, standard product prices rose 8% from a year earlier, with the largest increases in dairy products (11%).
The value of a typical shopping basket, per the e-Consumer price observatory of the Ministry of Development and Investment, has increased by about 6% during this period, with the highest price increases being recorded in toilet paper (35.5%), flour (31.2%), spaghetti (27.4%) and sunflower oil (23.2%).
Meanwhile unleaded gasoline averaged 2.40 euros/liter on Monday – i.e. up 46.3% in a year, as on June 27, 2021 it had averaged at €1.64/lt.
