Bread is more expensive than ever, confirms Eurostat, the European statistical office. The price also rose faster than headline inflation. For example, a loaf of bread in August was on average 18 percent more expensive than in the same period last year. General inflation in Europe was just under 10 percent in August.
Bread is more expensive than ever in the European Union
The annual growth of bread prices in the EU compared to the European Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP).
In Belgium, the price increase was limited to about 13 percent, or lower than the average. The smallest price increase among European Union member states was for France (less than 10 percent) and the largest for Hungary, where bread became more than 60 percent more expensive in a year.
Price increase of bread in Belgium below European average (August 2022)
The percentage price increases of bread in August on an annual basis in the European Member States, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland
As an explanation, Eurostat refers to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which shook the world markets for grain, wheat, oil and fertilizers and caused prices for these ingredients to skyrocket.
