Attention sensitive subject in France.
The price of bread is experiencing a surge not seen for many years.
According to figures released today by European statistics agency Eurostat, the cost of this food staple jumped 18% on average in the EU between August 2022 and August 2021. A substantial rise on the previous trend .
Indeed, this increase had only been 3% between August 2021 and August 2020.
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Of course, not all Member States experience similar inflation.
It is Hungary that finds itself the most penalized, with prices up 66% over one year.
Far behind, Lithuania, Estonia and Slovakia saw the value of bread jump by 33 and 32%.
Good news, however, France is more spared than its neighbors.
In the country of the baguette, the flight is limited to 8%.
Paris is followed by the Netherlands and Luxembourg where prices jumped by 10%.
Unsurprisingly, the European statistics agency amputates a large part of this additional cost to the war in Ukraine.
The two belligerent countries (kyiv and Moscow) being among the main exporters of wheat and fertilizers.
As a result, prices have skyrocketed.
Wheat thus reached a record on May 16 at 438.25 euros per tonne, before falling back but still at high levels (more than 350 euros per tonne).
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More generally, the rise in prices is general on the old continent.
The euro zone's annual inflation rate stood at 9.1% in August 2022, compared to 8.9% in July, again according to Eurostat.
A year earlier, this rate was 3.0%.
