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|
1997-2008 |
Eurozone Food Prices: Since the end of 2006, but particularly since July 2007, food prices1 in the EU2 have increased more rapidly than overall inflation. The same pattern was observed for the Eurozone3. In April 2008, the annual increase in food prices in the EU was 7.1%, compared with 3.6% for overall inflation, as measured by the all-items HICP (EU Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices). In theEurozone, the annual increase in food prices was 6.2%, compared with 3.3% for overall inflation.
March and April 2008 recorded the highest annual increases in food prices in both the EU and the Eurozone since the beginning of the series in 1996. However, between 1996 and April 2008, food prices have risen in total at a similar rate to overall inflation: +31% and +27% respectively in the EU, and +30% and +27% respectively in the Eurozone.
Irish food prices rose 8.4%.
These figures come from Eurostat, the Statistical Office of theEuropean Union.
Annual increases of food prices ranged from 3.2% in Portugal to 25.4% in Bulgaria
The weight of food in the all-items HICP reflects the share of food purchases in household consumption expenditure. This share is 14.6% at theEU level. The weight of food in the index varies from 9.5% in the United Kingdom and 9.7% in Luxembourg, to 34.5% in Romania and 23.2% in Lithuania.
In April 2008, the highest yearly increases in food prices were found inBulgaria (25.4%), Latvia (21.7%), Estonia (18.3%) and Lithuania (18.1%). The lowest increases were registered in Portugal (3.2%), Netherlands (5.4%), France (5.5%), Cyprus (5.8%) and Italy (5.9%).
The impact of food prices on overall annual inflation depends on both the weight of food in the all-items HICP and the annual price changes for food, and therefore differs significantly between Member States. The largest upward impacts from food prices on overall annual inflation in April 2008 were found in Bulgaria (+3.4 percentage points), Lithuania and Romania (both +1.9 pp), while the smallest upward impacts were recorded in Portugal (+0.1 pp) and Luxembourg (+0.2 pp).
Annual price changes for all-items HICP and food, %
|
HICP |
Food |
|
Apr 07
Apr 06 |
Apr 08
Apr 07 |
Index,
Apr 08
(2005 = 100) |
Weight, % |
Apr 07
Apr 06 |
Apr 08
Apr 07 |
Index,
Apr 08
(2005 = 100) |
Impact (percentage points)
Apr 08 |
|
EU |
2.2 |
3.6 |
108.1 |
14.6 |
3.4 |
7.1 |
112.5 |
0.6 |
|
Eurozone |
1.9 |
3.3 |
107.6 |
14.4 |
2.5 |
6.2 |
110.9 |
0.5 |
|
Belgium |
1.8 |
4.1 |
108.5 |
16.0 |
4.9 |
6.1 |
113.7 |
0.4 |
|
Bulgaria |
4.4 |
13.4 |
127.7 |
22.9 |
4.5 |
25.4 |
144.1 |
3.4 |
|
Czech Rep. |
2.7 |
6.7 |
111.4 |
17.1 |
4.7 |
9.9 |
115.1 |
0.6 |
|
Denmark |
1.7 |
3.4 |
107.1 |
13.7 |
5.4 |
7.5 |
114.3 |
0.6 |
|
Germany |
2.0 |
2.6 |
106.3 |
10.6 |
2.8 |
6.4 |
111.0 |
0.4 |
|
Estonia |
5.6 |
11.6 |
121.9 |
19.3 |
9.1 |
18.3 |
133.3 |
1.5 |
|
Ireland |
2.9 |
3.3 |
108.8 |
12.5 |
1.7 |
8.4 |
112.0 |
0.7 |
|
Greece |
2.6 |
4.4 |
111.2 |
16.5 |
0.7 |
7.0 |
113.2 |
0.5 |
|
Spain |
2.5 |
4.2 |
110.9 |
19.2 |
3.2 |
6.8 |
113.9 |
0.7 |
|
France |
1.3 |
3.4 |
106.7 |
14.8 |
1.1 |
5.5 |
108.3 |
0.4 |
|
Italy |
1.8 |
3.6 |
107.8 |
16.6 |
2.8 |
5.9 |
110.1 |
0.5 |
|
Cyprus |
1.6 |
4.3 |
108.5 |
16.1 |
6.7 |
5.8 |
118.7 |
0.3 |
|
Latvia |
8.8 |
17.4 |
134.1 |
22.0 |
12.5 |
21.7 |
145.1 |
1.3 |
|
Lithuania |
4.9 |
11.9 |
120.9 |
23.2 |
10.2 |
18.1 |
136.3 |
1.9 |
|
Luxembourg |
2.5 |
4.3 |
109.8 |
9.7 |
2.9 |
6.3 |
111.4 |
0.2 |
|
Hungary |
8.7 |
6.8 |
118.7 |
17.2 |
13.4 |
14.8 |
137.8 |
1.6 |
|
Malta |
-1.1 |
4.1 |
107.2 |
15.9 |
0.3 |
9.7 |
113.6 |
1.0 |
|
Netherlands |
1.9 |
1.7 |
105.8 |
12.4 |
1.3 |
5.4 |
108.2 |
0.5 |
|
Austria |
1.8 |
3.4 |
107.1 |
11.5 |
4.3 |
7.6 |
112.7 |
0.5 |
|
Poland |
2.2 |
4.3 |
107.7 |
20.9 |
4.6 |
6.8 |
112.2 |
0.6 |
|
Portugal |
2.8 |
2.5 |
108.5 |
18.0 |
3.6 |
3.2 |
109.1 |
0.1 |
|
Romania |
3.8 |
8.7 |
119.5 |
34.5 |
-0.3 |
12.4 |
118.2 |
1.9 |
|
Slovenia |
2.9 |
6.2 |
111.8 |
15.8 |
6.4 |
12.2 |
120.5 |
1.1 |
|
Slovakia |
2.0 |
3.7 |
109.9 |
16.1 |
4.3 |
7.9 |
114.9 |
0.8 |
|
Finland |
1.5 |
3.3 |
106.5 |
14.0 |
3.0 |
6.4 |
111.5 |
0.5 |
|
Sweden |
1.6 |
3.2 |
106.5 |
13.6 |
3.0 |
6.8 |
110.2 |
0.5 |
|
United Kingdom |
2.8 |
3.0 |
107.6 |
9.5 |
6.0 |
7.2 |
113.6 |
0.4 |
Milk, cheese and eggs prices rose by 15% between April 2007 and April 2008 in the EU
Among the nine food classes, the three main classes at EU level are meat, bread & cereals and milk, cheese & eggs. They make up 60% of the food component. In April 2008, the annual price increase in theEU was 14.9% for milk, cheese & eggs, 10.7% for bread & cereals and 4.1% for meat. For the remaining food classes, price changes ranged from -1.2% for vegetables to +13.2% for oils & fats.
In April 2008, among the Member States, annual price increases for meat ranged from 0.7% inPortugal to 19.1% in Lithuania, for bread & cereals from 6.3% in the Netherlands to 38.4% in Bulgaria, and for milk, cheese & eggs from 3.4% in Cyprus to 35.4% in Estonia.
- Food (COICOP 01.1) includes those products generally purchased for consumption at home and therefore excludes products sold in hotels, cafés, restaurants and the like.
- The EU includes Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), the Czech Republic (CZ), Denmark (DK), Germany (DE), Estonia (EE), Ireland (IE), Greece (EL), Spain (ES), France (FR), Italy (IT), Cyprus (CY), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Hungary (HU), Malta (MT), the Netherlands (NL), Austria (AT), Poland (PL), Portugal (PT), Romania (RO), Slovenia (SI), Slovakia (SK), Finland (FI), Sweden (SE) and the United Kingdom (UK).
EU inflation is measured by the EICP (’European Index of Consumer Prices’ as defined in Council Regulation (EC) No 2494/95 of 23 October 1995) which is the official EU aggregate. The EU included 15 Member States until 30 April 2004, 25 Member States from 1 May 2004 until 31 December 2006 and 27 Member States from 1 January 2007. New Member States are integrated into the EICP using a chain index formula.
- Eurozone inflation is measured by the MUICP (’Monetary Union Index of Consumer Prices’ as defined in Council Regulation (EC) No 2494/95 of 23 October 1995) which is the official Eurozone aggregate. New Member States are integrated into the MUICP using a chain index formula. The Eurozone initially included Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland. Greece was included from 1 January 2001, Slovenia from 1 January 2007, and Cyprus and Malta from 1 January 2008.
