After substantial increases in 2022, food prices in the EU continued to rise in 2023. It finds Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union which today confirmed a fact that many already imagined: no food product has grown as much as olive oil. The reasons are now known: a strong reduction in production at a global level, starting from Spain which holds almost half of world production, and inventories that have progressively disappeared.
“Data for the second and third quarters of this year – highlights Eurostat – show that the prices of some items have recorded a slower increase. In September 2023, the prices of eggs, butter and potatoes in the European Union are higher than those in January 2021 and 2022. But – it is specified – they are not as high as a few months earlier, while Olive oil prices are constantly increasing. In September 2023 – specifies the European Statistics Office – the price of olive oil was 75% higher than January 2021. In January 2022 prices were already 11% higher than in the same month the previous year and between September 2022 and September 2023 prices recorded a sharp increase.”
In the Eurostat analysis, the prices of other food products are also evaluated: those of potatoes, for example, despite not reaching the percentages of oil, they recorded a dramatic increase: compared to January 2021, they grew by 53% in September 2023, after a peak in June 2023 (+60%).
As for the prices of eggs, were 2023% higher in September 37 than in January 2021. Egg prices stabilized in the first two quarters of 2023 and showed some decline in August and September of this year.
The prices of salted butter they evolved in a similar way: they reached their peak in December 2022 (+44% compared to January 2021) and then slowly began to decline. In September butter cost 27% more than in January 2021.
