Food prices have rocketed

17  December 2007

The great majority of foodstuffs have become more expensive in the last year and a half a study by the consumer organisation Test-Aankoop reveals.

The consumer watchdog compared the prices of 40 food and 20 other products between January 2006 and August of this year.

It turns out that all food stuffs have become more expensive, cauliflower and tomatoes excepted. Bread and margarine, for instance, have gone up by 7 and 10 per cent. On average, prices have gone up by 3 per cent.  As such, Test-Aankoop is less positive than Fevia, the Belgian Food Products Federation, which this week announced that the worst of the price increases wasbehind us.

“The price increases largely affect those living on a low income,” Ivo Mechels of Test-Aankoop says.

“The new government really should make an effort for those people and introduce structural measures such as extra allowances.”

According to Test-Aankoop, the prices of consumer goods have increased by 20 per cent since the turn of the century.

Electronics are much cheaper

In sharp contrast to foodstuffs, the prices of electronics have plummeted.

DVD players, for instance, have become almost 20 per cent cheaper in the reference period, whereas the average purchase price for a mobile phone has dropped from 120 to 104 euros.