this inflation in Spain Waking up this June 2022 morning in Spain means resigning to the daily expenditures that have increased at an unknown rate over the last 40 years. this Organization of consumers and users (OCU) accounts families will spend at least 500 euros more this year Shopping cart. Eight out of 10 items in the supermarket are now more expensive than they were a year ago. The Savings Banks Foundation (Funcas) is increasing the impact of inflation on families’ pockets to 800 euros this year. “Each additional point of inflation as a result of the increase in the energy bill represents a loss of purchasing power of approximately €7,600 million for households,” Funcas calculates.
Preliminary inflation data for May, which will be confirmed in detail tomorrow, Friday, fully confirm the feeling that living today is more expensive, much more expensive than a year ago. Breakfast at the bar increased to one euro, at a restaurant close to work the menu became two euros more expensive to 14.75 and the shopping cart changed with more weight of the specialty or distributor brands over the years (43% over the years). total daily purchase).
On the background of daily increases increase in electricity price, gasoline, grains and sunflower oil. And after these elements came an unstoppable series of increases in daily prices and costs for the primary sector. According to the latest CPI data, we pay 34.9% more for electricity than a year ago, much more if the regulated rate is contracted. CPI rose to 8.7% in May due to higher gasoline and food prices. Core inflation (excluding the rise in energy prices) is close to 5%, the highest level since 1995.
resignation
After having breakfast at the corner bar, sandwiches and coffee, and advertising selling prices of 3.75 euros, commuting in your own car can be a big bite from the family budget. The average price of gasoline was 1,358 euros a year ago, and that of diesel was 1,221. It is now over two euros per liter. Filling the car’s tank exceeds the 100 euro barrier. Despite this, caravans and traffic jams continue. A visit to the supermarket requires an attitude of surrender in the face of evidence that more is paid for the same thing than a year ago.
Cesar Valencosospecialist in distribution Kantar Consultingallows consumers to change their habits and continue to consume: «The volume of consumers shopping in the supermarket does not decrease even if prices rise. What the consumer is doing is assuming inflation, for better or worse,” explains Valencoso. According to Kantar, it is the supermarket chains themselves that encourage the sale of private label products to keep sending messages of low price and control of the cost of the shopping cart. They tend to buy cheaper products. We are in the age of high affect on the consumer side, but there are also consumers (two-thirds) who buy by quality.Sirloins at 46 euros per kilo continue to be sold, but it is also possible to buy family trays of chicken breast (12% more expensive than a year ago). ).
The average salary in Spain is 26,832 euros per year, about 2,236 euros per month in 12 payments. Compared to the UGT, it is relatively lower than it was 20 years ago. Citizens are losing their purchasing power.
The increase in tourism means experts are ignoring that prices will drop before September and are aware that they will likely continue to rise until the end of the year. “If inflation stops soon, I think prices will fall, but if it stays high for a long time, prices may consolidate,” Valencoso admits.
The rise in prices for the OCU is “worrying”. “This may be justified because the products and services that affect companies have increased and have had to outdo the increases. But there are also industries trying to gain something in this turbulent river of rising prices”, explains Esther Lorente, head of the OCU in Catalonia. According to the OCU, the products that rose the most were white-label olive oil (53.6%), white-label sunflower oil (49.3%), dishwashers (49.1%) and margarine (41.5%). It also refers to pasta, bananas and sliced salmon (in 30-40% increments).
Nielsen consulting assures that prices in 73% of categories have increased over the past year. Records in oil (75%), but also in margarine (35%), pasta (31%), industrial pastries (25%), toilet paper (17%)… For Patricia Daimiel, director Nielsen IQ’s general For southern Europe, “price increases affect staple food products that the consumer can hardly give up or replace, so they have a high impact on the price of the shopping cart”.
Origin costs
Distribution chains remind us that price tensions have been softened by high competition, and they are due to the rise in initial prices. According to the data of the Ministry of Agriculture, prices of cereals increased by 80% in one year, oil was paid 82% more in two campaigns and eggs were paid 60% more expensive to farms than a year ago. It is 47% more expensive. The reason for general inflation in the agriculture and livestock sector is grains, energy and transportation costs. In the opinion of Ignacio García Magarzo, managing director of the Asedas supermarket employers association, “prices in origin and industry are clearly rising more than the CPI, and these price increases become more moderate the closer they get to the consumer distribution chain.