Food Prices Soar Across Europe, Disproportionately Impacting Low-Income Households
• Annual food inflation remains high across Europe, hitting low-income families hardest with real food inflation rates up to 10.9% • Food inflation exceeded overall inflation in 33 out of 37 European countries in October 2023 • Main drivers include rising energy costs affecting the agri-food chain and reduced supply of inputs like fertilizers • Ukraine war has severely disrupted food exports, affecting European food prices • Countries spending the highest share of household expenditure on food tend to be most impacted, like Romania (25.2%) and candidate countries Albania (43.6%) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (32.2%)