Steep Price Increase: Inflation of Groceries around 20%

The inflation rate of groceries is certainly surpassing the official inflation data. Two recent analyses detected an inflation rate exceeding 20%, with the price of certain products having even almost doubled in one year. Both eventually concluded that a price freeze is a far cry from having a significant dampening effect.

Privátbankár: 5% in one month

Privátbankár tested the prices in three supermarkets (Auchan, Interspar, and Tesco) and found that the average price for groceries came to HUF 27,379 (EUR 72), up from the previous peak of HUF 26,000 from three months earlier.

In a single month, the cost of groceries has risen by 5.4%, while in comparison to May last year, it went up by a shocking 21.3%. As a matter of fact, this also broke the previous record of 17.8% “set” in January.

• The price of margarine increased the most in one year (+105%).
• Cheese is 79 percent more expensive than last year.
• Bread is also now 76% more expensive now than in May of last year and
  eggs have also increased exponentially (+55%).

Overall, more than two thirds of 30 products have risen by more than 10%.

According to the website’s conclusion, “it is becoming increasingly clear that a price freeze is only a beauty patch, and it is impossible to estimate what effect it will have on the prices of other products.”

Another analysis: Price of spaghetti almost doubled

This shocking rising tendency was also confirmed by G7. According to the analysis of the economic investigative portal (made with the inclusion of four supermarket chains: Aldi, Lidl, Penny Market, and Tesco), the total cost of grocery shopping in April 2021 was between HUF 16,184 and HUF 16,939 (EUR 42-44), depending on the shop, which by April of this year increased to HUF 19,902- 20,693 (EUR 52-54).

This comes to an inflation rate of 21.9%.

• In April of last year, a kilogram of spaghetti pasta cost HUF 398 (EUR 1.04), which at the end of April this year, was HUF 753 (EUR 1.97), an increase of 89% in one year.
• With the same calculation method, ground coffee has risen by 70%
• Eggs by 56%
• Tomatoes by 52%
• Buns, bread rolls, Trappist cheese, snake cucumbers, and brown bread are now almost one and a half times more expansive.
• Of the 42 products on the list, only four have fallen in price in one year: turnips, carrots (-15), onions (-5%), and potatoes (-4%).

So, looking at the average of the four shops, G7’s analysis also proves that price freezing is far from having a significant effect.

featured image illustration via Attila Balázs/MTI