Food prices continue to rise in EU countries 

According to a new survey released by the EU’s statistics agency Eurostat, food prices have increased in Europe in the last two months, despite inflation falling overall. 

In January, inflation for food prices in eurozone countries was 18.2% and in December it was 16.2%. This was slightly lower than in November, but it still means that a lot of basic food items are continuing to become more expensive for European shoppers. 

For the report, the agency registered data from EU countries on the price of food items in six categories: eggs, whole milk, sugar, oils, fats, and other edible oils. The data shows that for these basic food items, prices are still going up at a significant rate. 

The price increases ranged from 30.2% to 56.6% on average. Sugar prices increased by around 10% in some countries, including Sweden, Denmark, and Luxembourg. In other countries, this was much higher. For example, in Czechia, the price of sugar was 98.9% higher and in Poland, sugar prices rose by 87.4%. 

For another everyday food item, eggs, prices increased by 30% on average. The lowest increase was in Luxembourg at 14.8% and the highest was in Czechia at 92.5%. 

Overall, the highest price rise for food products was in Hungary with an average 50% increase. This was followed by Lithuania at 33.5% and Estonia at 30.8%. 

On the other hand, the lowest price changes were registered in Luxembourg at 11.1 per cent, Ireland at 12.1 per cent and Cyprus at 12.2 per cent.

The rising cost of living has been a growing concern for Europeans. This report follows a recent survey that suggests that the issue is now the biggest concern for 93% of people in the EU. 

Nearly 50% of Europeans said that rising costs for food and other essentials like gas, electricity, fuel, and housing costs, were driving a decline in their living standards, with 45% saying they were already facing financial difficulties.