June 2 - Since the end of 2006, but particularly since July 2007, food prices1 in the EU2 have increased more rapidly than overall inflation. The same pattern was observed for the euro area3. In April 2008, the annual increase in food prices in the EU was 7.1%, compared with 3.6% for overall inflation, as measured by the all-items HICP. In the euro area, the annual increase in food prices was 6.2%, compared with 3.3% for overall inflation.
March and April 2008 recorded the highest annual increases in food prices in both the EU and the euro area since the beginning of the series in 1996. However, between 1996 and April 2008, food prices have risen in total at a similar rate to overall inflation: +31% and +27% respectively in the EU, and +30% and +27% respectively in the euro area.
These figures come from
Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities.
