Unprecedented rise in food industry selling prices

Output prices in the food industry rose by 8.7 percent in July this year compared to July last year. Such a high price increase in the food industry has not been measured since the start of the CBS publication series in 2013. The leader in price increases was the edible oils and fats industry. The potato products industry was the only sector where output prices decreased in July. This is evident from an analysis of recent CBS figures by our editors.

Price increase continues

Since January this year, when sales prices in the food industry slowed down, price increases have been higher every month. In February, prices rose by 1.2 percent, increasing every month thereafter to reach +8.7 percent in July. Over the first seven months of this year, the total increase in sales prices in the food industry was 4.5 percent

Double-digit price increase 

Output prices in the food oils and fats industry have been growing by more than 10 percent since September last year. The peak was in April this year when prices rose by no less than 32.6 percent. In July, the price increase was 29.8 percent. In the period January-July, the price increase compared to the same period last year was 27.8 percent.

Slaughterhouses also see sharp increase in sales prices in July

Both non-Poultry slaughterhouses (+17.1 percent) and poultry slaughterhouses (+10.3 percent) saw their prices rise sharply in July. The meat processing industry was also able to raise its selling prices in July (+5.7 percent), following in the wake of the slaughterhouses. Over the first seven months of this year, however, the increase in slaughterhouse selling prices has fluctuated around a modest 1 percent. Output prices in the meat processing industry even fell during this period (-3.9 percent).

Decrease in potato products industry

Output prices in the potato products industry have been falling continuously since January 2020. In July, prices decreased again by 2.1 percent. Over the first seven months of this year, the sales prices of potato products decreased by 1.4 percent.