The cost of the basic food basket has increased again this week, now costing an additional 2.07 euros (0.86%), bringing the total to 242.45 euros. This marks “one of the highest prices” since DECO PROteste began tracking the price of this basket of essential goods, the organization reported.
“At the start of this year, on January 1st, consumers spent 6.29 euros less (a decrease of 2.66%) to purchase the exact same food items. A year ago, on September 25, 2024, they spent 14.20 euros less (a decrease of 6.22%). In January 2022, when the consumer protection organization began monitoring the price of this food basket, the same products could be bought for 54.75 euros less (a decrease of 29.1 percent),” it states on the DECO PROTeste website.
Fresh Hake Stands Out
The data shows that fresh hake is among the products with the most significant price increase this week, reaching the highest price since June of this year, when it cost 11.99 euros per kilogram.
“After several consecutive weeks fluctuating between 9 and 11 euros per kilogram, this week the price of hake increased by 1.46 euros per kilogram (up 14%) to 11.81 euros per kilogram. Fresh hake has been one of the products with the highest weekly price fluctuations over the past three years, and it now costs 1.61 euros more per kilogram (up 16%) than on January 5, 2022, when DECO PROteste began monitoring the food basket,” the consumer protection organization adds.
Eurostat today revised down the annual inflation rate for August to 2.0%, indicating that it was 2.4% in the European Union (EU).
Which Products Increased the Most?
According to DECO PROTeste, during the past week, from September 17 to 24, besides fresh hake, the products with the highest percentage price increases were spaghetti (up 18%), whole grain cereals (up 14%), and frozen peas (up 10 percent).
However, “when comparing this week’s prices with those of the first week of the year, on January 1, 2025, the largest percentage price increase was observed in products like broccoli (up 34%), eggs (up 28%), and oranges (up 27 percent).”
“Since DECO PROteste began this analysis on January 5, 2022, the largest percentage increases have been in beef for boiling (up 105%), eggs (up 81%), and oranges (up 75 percent),” it is also noted.
Experts reported that this week, the food basket costs 240.56 euros.
