The worst in the EU: Hungary’s food prices outstrip those of the region
Food prices are soaring, as we have seen in the past few weeks, months. Granulated sugar in Belgium, cooking oil in Austria and milk in Germany are all cheaper than here. Moreover, part of the price boom is still ahead of us. No good news here, unfortunately.
Népszava looked at the cheapest places to shop across Europe. What they found showed that while overall, Western prices are still slightly higher than Hungarian prices in many cases, some food products are more expensive to buy in Budapest than in Belgium, Spain or Austria, for example.
Sugar, rice, oil, milk
It would be cheaper to buy sugar in Belgium, rice in Spain or France, and sunflower oil in Austria than here in Hungary. This indicates that even the poorest people in Hungary have to spend a similar amount on food as the much more affluent Austrian, German or French consumers.
Sunflower oil, for example, costs EUR 1.74 converted in Hungary. Meanwhile, in Austria, it costs EUR 1.19. Meanwhile, in Austria, it costs EUR 1.19. For 1.7 percent UHT milk, we have already beaten several countries with a price of EUR 0.9. In Spain, it costs EUR 0.78 and EUR 0.79 in Germany. At first glance, these are not big differences, Népszava writes. But if you look at the ratio to average incomes, the difference is huge.
The biggest food price explosion is in Hungary
Figures from the EU’s statistical office show that the food price explosion was by far the worst in Hungary. It reached dramatic proportions by August, and the situation has only worsened since then. Eurostat recorded an average food price increase of 14 percent in the EU in August compared to the same period last year. In Hungary, the rise was two and a half times higher at 34 percent, far outstripping the average of 15-20 percent in the region.
The most basic food saw the biggest price increase
Compared to 2015 prices, the average price of bread in the EU had risen by 30 percent by the end of the summer. Meanwhile in Hungary, by August, bread was already more than four times the EU average, 127 percent more expensive than seven years ago!
In Hungary, it is not only bread that is becoming more and more of a luxury item. In Hungary, it is not only bread that is becoming more and more of a luxury item. The same is happening with the prices of meat, eggs, fruit and vegetables, and alcoholic beverages are rising at a similar rate, about double the EU average.
Source: Népszava, szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu