Portugal with the highest rise in agricultural prices in the EU
In the second quarter, Portugal recorded the highest increase in the price of basic agricultural products (22%), with the European Union (EU) showing a sharp slowdown to a rate of 2%, Eurostat announced on Tuesday.
Between the second quarter of 2022 and the second quarter of 2023, the average EU price for agricultural products as a whole (production) rose by 2%, a significantly lower rate of increase compared to the previous quarter, when the average price rose by 17% (first quarter of 2023 compared to the first quarter of 2022).
At a national level, the EU statistical office points out, the indicator rose in ten of the 27 member states, with Portugal recording the biggest increase between April and June, followed by Greece (21%) and Spain (16%), three countries heavily affected by the drought.
At the other end of the table, with the biggest falls, are Lithuania (-26%) and Estonia (-15%).
The average price of non-investment-related inputs (fertilizers, energy and animal feed), meanwhile, fell by 5% between the second quarter of 2022 and the second quarter of 2023, the first decline since the fourth quarter of 2020 and which contrasts with the 11% acceleration in the first three months of the year.
Citrus fruits were the product whose prices rose the most in the EU between April and June (89% on average), followed by olive oil (48%) and potatoes (38%), a worsening attributed to production shortfalls due to the drought.
Cereal prices fell by 31%, followed by poultry (-4%) and milk (-2%).
Among non-investment-related inputs, the sharpest price drops were for fertilizers and soil improvers (-23%), energy and lubricants (-13%) and animal feed (-5%).
Source: Público, 26 September 2023
Comments