In recent months, food inflation has increased slightly in Luxembourg, but there are products that have escaped this trend. Several foods have started to become cheaper since the beginning of the year, according to the latest data revealed by flash situation report from Statec (National Institute of Statistics) for April.
Some examples were flour and other cereal products, milk, fresh vegetables and honey. This drop reflects the behavior observed in the euro zone due to “a further decline in world cereal prices” and the cost of energy.
On the other hand, there were foods affected by inflation, such as olive oil, chocolate, other sugar and cocoa-based products and fortified wines (with a high concentration of alcohol). Here too, a pattern can be seen in the euro zone, particularly due to the rise in cocoa prices.
Food inflation is lower than in the euro zone
Despite this trend of rising prices, which goes against the general slowdown recorded in Europe, Luxembourg has one of the lowest levels of food inflation in the bloc: +19% between January 2022 and March 2024, compared to +22.3 % in the same period in the euro zone.
According to Statec, this disparity is due to the implementation of government measures on energy prices and factors such as the sharp rise in olive oil, which was seen in the southern countries of the bloc and which did not have the same expression in Luxembourg.
The increase in the price of olive oil “contributed six times more to food inflation in the euro zone (0.77 percentage points out of 2.0) than in Luxembourg (0.13 percentage points out of 3.0) in March 2024”, explains the Institute.
Tags: Food cheaper Luxembourg
