The war in Ukraine has fueled a steady rise in food prices, and this week was no exception.
One Deco protest analysis to practical values shows that the price of a basket of basic foodstuffs has increased by 1.51% (3.08 euros) over the past week, reaching a value of 206.79 euros.
Since February 23, when Deco started the analysis, the day before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the price of the same basket has already risen by 12.62% (€23.16).
The Consumer Protection Association monitors weekly prices for a basket of 63 staples, which includes items such as turkey, chicken, hake, horse mackerel, onions, potatoes, carrots, bananas, apples, oranges, rice, spaghetti, sugar. , ham, milk, cheese and butter.
This week, from June 29 to July 6, the top 10 products with the highest price increase were strawberry yogurt (plus 10%), golden apple (plus 10%), fresh hake (plus 8%), tomatoes (plus 8%), white sugar (plus 7%), perch (plus 7%), first cold olives pressed oil (plus 7%), onion (plus 7%), flamingo cheese (plus 6%) and salmon (plus 6%).
If the analysis is focused exclusively on the categories of products with the highest price increases, then in the period from February 23, on the eve of the outbreak of the armed conflict in Ukraine, to July 6, fish and meat stand out the most, with an increase of 19.68% and 14.67% respectively.
“The 10 foods that increased the most between Feb. 23 and July 6 were fresh hake (58%), salmon (47%), 100% cooking oil (41%), whole chicken (31% ), flour for baking. (24%), turkey steak (22%), pork chops (21%), sea bream (19%), hake medallions (16%) and croutons Maria (15%),” he says.
The association explains that this increase is due to the fact that Portugal is “heavily dependent on foreign markets to guarantee the supply of cereals needed for domestic consumption”, which “currently represent only 3.5% of national agricultural production: mainly corn (56 %). , wheat (19%) and rice (16%).
“And if in the early 1990s self-sufficiency in grain was about 50%, now the value does not exceed 19.4%, which is one of the lowest rates in the world and forces the country to import about 80% of grain. ” adds Deko.
The organization explains that “the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where most of the grains consumed in the European Union come from, and in Portugal has thus put even more pressure on the sector, which had been struggling for months with the effects of the pandemic and drought. strong impact on production and stockpiling.”
“Limiting the supply of raw materials and increasing the cost of production, namely the energy needed for agri-food production, can thus be reflected in higher prices in international markets and, consequently, in prices at the consumer,” he emphasizes.
