After more than a year of supermarket inflation declining, prices have been going up again for the last three months in Belgium.
Supermarket inflation is calculated monthly by consumer protection organisation Test Achats, which monitors the price of more than 3,000 products in seven leading supermarket chains. It reached a historic peak of 20% in March last year before consistently falling and reaching the lowest rate of 2.31% in June. But it has since been rising – to 2.49% in July and 2.5% in August. In September it reached 2.76%.
"This marks the third consecutive month of rising inflation," Test Achats' spokesperson Laura Clays said. Food inflation is still higher than in January 2022, when it exceeded 2% for the first time. "A shopping basket now costs 27% more than in January 2022."
Latest figures from the Belgian statistics agency Statbel show that overall inflation of all goods and services rose to 3.06% in September – up from 2.86% in August.
What's pushing up prices?
As was the case in August, a 100g bar of dark chocolate (+28%) and a litre of olive oil (+27%) saw the greatest year-on-year price increases. Due to poor orange harvests, the cost of orange juice was also up by 20%. Test Achats has also started to see indications that the cost of butter is also rising slightly. "In international trade markets, the price has already risen, and in supermarkets, this is slowly starting to show," Clays said.
When looking at product categories, soft drinks (+7%), fruit (+6%), and vegetables (+5%) saw the biggest rise. Meanwhile, the cost of baby wipes and fresh salmon fell most since last year, down by 13% and 11%, respectively.
The rise in prices is even more visible when compared to January 2022: ketchup is 83% more expensive, olive oil has gone up 66% (€13.01, compared with €9.58 two years ago), potatoes are 53% more expensive, and orange juice is up 47%. A bar of dark chocolate now costs €1.52 compared with €1.05 in September 2022.
"It has become increasingly difficult for part of the population to continue paying for basic food," Clays said.
Test Achats is calling on the next Federal Government – for which negotiations are ongoing – to pay attention to the increases in the supermarket. "At the same time, we urge consumers to choose own brand products and always look at the unit price to compare properly," concluded Clays.
