Coffee will become a luxury product in Hungary soon?

Based on recent data from the Eurostat and the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, coffee prices are rising in Europe but skyrocketing in Hungary.

According to Eurostat data, the consumer prices of coffee rose by 16.9 percent in the European Union compared to the previous year. However, that was much higher in Hungary, index.hu reported.

As we reported before, inflation hit Hungary hard and is higher than even in the 1990s. In those days, that was caused by the regime change and the economic switch from a socialist planned economy to a market-based system. Based on the August data, the average inflation was 15.6 percent, but in the case of food products, that rate reached 30.9 percent.

It seems that among people preferring hot drinks, coffee consumers are in the worst situation. In Hungary, tea prices increased by 24.1 percent, while coffee prices increased by an average of 34.3 percent in August.

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In the case of coffee, those rates mean that Hungary is among the top 5 countries in the European Union where coffee prices increased the most. Furthermore, the price rise in Hungary is twice the EU average. In the EU, coffee is more expensive only in Finland, Lithuania, Sweden and Estonia than in Hungary.

Based on the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, coffee prices increased by an average of HUF 372 (EUR 0.9). That means the average price of a coffee bag went up from HUF 718 to HUF 1090 (EUR 2.43). Furthermore, the overall picture is even darker if we do not take our coffee black. That is because the price of low-fat milk increased the most during the last year in Hungary, by 51.7 percent.

Index.hu named two reasons behind the soaring coffee prices. One is the drought Brazil suffers from, while the other is the difficulties in logistics.

Source: index.hu