This year, purchasing food before the upcoming Christmas season in Slovakia will be more expensive than last year. The list of food products that have increased in price is far longer than the list of foodstuffs that became cheaper. The prices of butter, tomatoes, kiwi, or apples increased the most in annual comparison. On the contrary, garlic and onion prices dropped significantly according to an analysis of the prices of foodstuffs compiled by Poštová Banka on the basis of data from the Slovak Statistics Office of the Slovak Republic. Food prices increased by 6.2 percent year-over-year, according to October data.
“Growth in prices is mainly driven by the development of agro-commodity prices on world markets, the shortage of butter, eggs and dairy products, and the stronger purchasing power of the population,” said Jana Glasová, analyst of Poštrová Banka as cited by the SITA newswire. “We expect prices in stores, including food, to grow further in the coming months, maintaining the current growth dynamics.”
Out of the Christmas foodstuff selection, the price of butter increased the most; it went up by more than 56 percent. Certain kinds of vegetables and fruits are also more expensive. The price of tomatoes went up by 40 percent while kiwi increased by 35 percent. Prices of cauliflower and apples went up by about 25 percent while the prices of garlic and onion decreased by 15 and 10 percent, respectively.