food inflation
Mel Stride, a government minister, claims that the UK’s food costs are growing more slowly than those in other nations.
But is he correct?
Mr. Stride stated: “In Germany, Portugal, and Sweden it’s running at about 20%, so higher than it is here.” in an interview with BBC Radio 4 regarding the rise in food prices.
The pace at which food costs are growing is known as inflation, and it is typically expressed as an annual number.
The most recent data for the four questioned nations pertains to the calendar year ending in April 2023.
But as the aforementioned graph shows, the UK saw the highest rate of food inflation within the group.
On the basis of the data from the previous month, Mr. Stride would have been correct. However, food inflation has dramatically decreased since March in Germany, Sweden, and Portugal, but it has remained stubbornly high in the UK.
In fact, the UK saw more food inflation in April than the other major European nations combined and higher than the 16.4% average for the European Union.
Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovakia, and Hungary outperformed it.
Which numbers Mr. Stride was referring to, BBC Verify inquired with his department. We were informed that he was speaking about the first quarter of 2023, when Sweden, Germany, and the UK all experienced 18% food price inflation.
Why are food prices rising?
A recent Office for National Statistics (ONS) investigation has focused on the causes of the UK’s excessive food inflation. The ONS is in charge of determining the UK’s inflation rates.
It found three primary causes for the price increases:
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia had a significant influence on energy costs as well as the availability of food and fertilisers.
UK workforce difficulties caused by bad weather in Europe and North Africa resulted in some crops going unharvested.
The good news is that the cost of food at the wholesale level, which is what producers charge for their goods, has been declining. Customers must wait until their expenses start to cease climbing because it often takes time for it to reflect in grocery pricing.
According to the ONS, a dependence on imported food may be one factor contributing to the UK’s costs growing more quickly for longer. This shows that food costs have increased less slowly in European nations that produce a greater proportion of their own food.
On Wednesday, the most recent set of UK inflation statistics for the year to May will be released.
Five things to know about the reason why food costs aren’t decreasing
Prices for toilet paper and bread in the UK and five other EU nations.
