Enlarge image
Grocery street vendor in Kolkata (India)
Photo: Bikas Das / AP
In Germany, rising food prices are worrying many consumers - the development in the Federal Republic is still comparatively moderate.
According to an initial estimate by official statisticians, food prices rose by six percent in the past year.
The world market prices for food have risen much more sharply.
According to the United Nations, they rose by 28 percent last year.
The price index, which shows the most heavily traded foods in the world, reached an average of 125.7 points, the highest level since 2011, according to the FAO, which is part of the United Nations.
The reasons for this are crop losses, expensive fertilizers and an overall high demand.
"The high operating costs, the ongoing global pandemic and the increasingly uncertain climatic conditions leave little room for optimism that market conditions will become more stable again even in 2022," said FAO chief economist Abdolreza Abbassian.
The higher prices hit especially the poorer population in countries that are dependent on imports.
In December, the price pressure eased at least somewhat. One reason for this is the lower demand, announced the FAO. The wheat harvests in the southern hemisphere also contributed to the slight relaxation. At the beginning of 2022, the prices for grain on the trading exchanges fluctuated. The oilseed markets, for example, were shocked by a drought in South America and floods in Malaysia. Milk prices have recently remained high, which the FAO attributes to lower production in Western Europe and Oceania.
In Germany there was recently a discussion about the appropriate level of food prices.
The trigger was statements by the new Federal Minister of Agriculture, Cem Özdemir (Greens), that they wanted to end "junk prices".
Social organizations in particular pointed to the considerable burden on low-income households from the recent price increases.
fdi / Reuters
