On rising prices of food, i read in an article that the food price increases here in Portugal are higher than those in the Eurozone as a whole, more especially, eggs, fresh milk, canned fruit, baby food, pork, sugar, vegetables and rice are the goods that rose more here than the Eurozone average, while gas is off the scale here. Fuel prices f.i. are today the exact same price for Euro95 as in Holland, Euro1,82!!.
The Farmers' Federation blamed higher costs for raising and feeding chickens and pigs and having energy to heat them, transport them and, in the case of pork, to refrigerate the meat. The Confederation of Agricultural Cooperatives said that on top of that increases in production costs were such that they became unsustainable, forcing prices up in a very short period of time. The Association of Distribution Companies says that it's due to national production having a different framework from other European Union member states, particularly on the issue of fertilizer prices, access to cereals (on which it is dependent, in some cases, by more than 90%), energy costs, fossil fuels and transport, and packaging costs. One television station, SIC, thinks the real issue is that incomes in Portugal are generally well below Eurozone averages, so being a country that has suffered in this way impacts markedly on those that have the least to start with. SIC estimates that food prices have increased by 19%.
Now in this article on Euronews, an analyst says that the food prices of today are based on the high energy prices of 6 months ago, when the food was produced. So there is this "lag on" effect coming into play. With the gas prices in Europe falling to their lowest level in almost 18 months in February, however, food prices are continuing their upward trend. They believe that the food prices will only decline in about 6 months if energy prices stabilize.
Meanwhile, many sectors have been or are on strike in Portugal, especially the teachers (children now have almost 3 years of education disrupted), and yesterday there was a large demo in Lisbon against the cost-of-living-crisis, in which thousands participated. The Bank of Portugal has warned at the end of December of last year, that higher interest rates and inflation are pushing around 40% of families onto the bread line as their disposable income is eroded in 2023. More than 50% of workers earned less than 1,000 Euros per month, while the minimum wage is 760 Euros per month.
Interestingly, Spain will scrap the value-added tax on basic food items for six months as part of a series of new measures to help people to cope with the rising cost of living.
The supermarkets themselves are still practicing 'shrinkflation', they have done that for years, only now it becomes much more noticeable in Europe where everyone is paying attention to the prices now. Tough times ahead for many.
The Farmers' Federation blamed higher costs for raising and feeding chickens and pigs and having energy to heat them, transport them and, in the case of pork, to refrigerate the meat. The Confederation of Agricultural Cooperatives said that on top of that increases in production costs were such that they became unsustainable, forcing prices up in a very short period of time. The Association of Distribution Companies says that it's due to national production having a different framework from other European Union member states, particularly on the issue of fertilizer prices, access to cereals (on which it is dependent, in some cases, by more than 90%), energy costs, fossil fuels and transport, and packaging costs. One television station, SIC, thinks the real issue is that incomes in Portugal are generally well below Eurozone averages, so being a country that has suffered in this way impacts markedly on those that have the least to start with. SIC estimates that food prices have increased by 19%.
Now in this article on Euronews, an analyst says that the food prices of today are based on the high energy prices of 6 months ago, when the food was produced. So there is this "lag on" effect coming into play. With the gas prices in Europe falling to their lowest level in almost 18 months in February, however, food prices are continuing their upward trend. They believe that the food prices will only decline in about 6 months if energy prices stabilize.
Meanwhile, many sectors have been or are on strike in Portugal, especially the teachers (children now have almost 3 years of education disrupted), and yesterday there was a large demo in Lisbon against the cost-of-living-crisis, in which thousands participated. The Bank of Portugal has warned at the end of December of last year, that higher interest rates and inflation are pushing around 40% of families onto the bread line as their disposable income is eroded in 2023. More than 50% of workers earned less than 1,000 Euros per month, while the minimum wage is 760 Euros per month.
Interestingly, Spain will scrap the value-added tax on basic food items for six months as part of a series of new measures to help people to cope with the rising cost of living.
The supermarkets themselves are still practicing 'shrinkflation', they have done that for years, only now it becomes much more noticeable in Europe where everyone is paying attention to the prices now. Tough times ahead for many.
Sweden
