Food prices in Spain swoop up again after a brief fall
Drinks, meat, dairy, and fresh fruit and veg are among the most expensive products in Spain this January
Those used to doing the weekly grocery shop might be surprised to learn that 2024 actually closed out with the cheapest food prices in three years, but even this small victory has been very short-lived. Costs started to creep up again right before Christmas and that trend has sadly continued into the new year.
In January, grocery prices rose by 1.22%, a factor blamed largely on the reintroduction of VAT on staple items.
According to Spain’s consumer watchdog the OCU, common products are today, on average, 0.4% more expensive that in June last year, before the first VAT hike.
Interestingly, olive oil isn’t the largest culprit, as it continues to come down in cost but rather, the price of non-alcoholic drinks.
Aside from beverages, which have shot up by almost 9% in January, the other things you should think twice about before adding to your shopping basket are meat and deli items (+2.67%), dairy products (+2.61%), and fruit and vegetables (+1.22%), while fish prices also grew slightly (+0.47%).
At the forefront of price drops are pantry products, which recorded a fall of 2.03%, followed by drugstore and hygiene products (-0.39%).
Specifically, of the 89 products selected by the OCU, 50 of them have increased their price since the start of the year, only two have maintained it and 37 have lowered it.
Among basic products, the largest price hikes have been seen in sunflower oil (10%), yoghurt (7%), minced meat (7%), extra cooked ham (6%), fresh cheese (6%), ground coffee (6%) and salad tomatoes (6%), along with two alcoholic drinks, rum (14%) and whisky (8%). The OCU report highlights the new and significant rise in the price of coffee, which was already at annual highs.
On the other end of the scale, the largest price drops among basic products were seen in extra virgin olive oil (-15%), mild olive oil (-9%), potatoes (-8%), chicken breast fillets (-4%) and lettuce (-4%).
The keep this rampant inflation under control, the OCU has been tirelessly petitioning the Spanish government to return to the ultra-reduced VAT rates on staple grocery items. In particular, the watchdog wants to see meat and fish rebranded as ‘basic foodstuffs’ so that the VAT could be reduced from the current 10% to 2%.
Image: Freepik
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