You can now follow the latest news for free through our Twitter account
Click here to subscribe
Paris: Prices have risen sharply since the end of the quarantine and the outbreak of war in Ukraine. The International Monetary Fund expects inflation to reach 8.3% this year around the world. Here are some of the products whose price is affecting the budgets of families around the world.
benzene
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, oil prices have risen, given that Russia is the third largest producer of crude in the world. The price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea approached $140 before falling back below $100.
This was reflected in prices at gas stations, with gasoline exceeding 2 euros per liter in March in France, Germany or the United Kingdom, and $5 a gallon (3.78 liters) in the United States in mid-June, before dropping slightly in the weeks past.
The same thing happened for fuel and gas: energy sources are by far the biggest component of inflation in the eurozone with an increase of 38.6% in August over a one-year period according to figures published by the European statistical institute Eurostat on Friday.
This affects the entire economy by increasing the production costs of companies. The situation has become so critical that some factories, or even swimming pools in France, have closed their doors to avoid paying exorbitant bills.
Pastries and beans
As Ukraine is the “breadbasket of Europe”, the war has led to a rise in the prices of grain and, in particular, wheat, which broke records at the beginning of March.
The price of pasta followed: In May, the financial company Allianz estimated in a study that its price increased by 19% in the eurozone over an 18-month period. In Canada, a major wheat exporter, the price of a 500-gram packet rose 60 cents over the course of a year in July, to C$3.16, according to official figures.
In Thailand, the price of instant noodles, a very popular state-priced product, rose at the end of August for the first time in fourteen years. The price of the bag increased by 0.03 euros to seven baht (20 cents).
Corn followed and the price of a kilogram of tortillas, a staple in Mexico, rose by an average of 2.79 pesos between January and mid-September, according to official figures. It is one of the most inflation-affecting products in the country.
In Brazil, another nutrient found in most meals is carioca beans, which increased in price by 22.67% in August compared to the previous year, according to the National Statistics Institute.
meat
As the price of grain increased, the cost of animal feed increased and so the breeders raised their prices. The price of pork, the most consumed pork in China, jumped more than 22% in one year in August. And the New China News Agency announced Friday that the authorities will put on the market a quantity of their strategic reserves of this meat for the second time this year, in order to stabilize prices.
In Argentina, the price of ground beef, which is popular thanks to its traditionally low price, has increased by 76.7% over the past 12 months. The country is facing one of the worst cases of inflation in the world, reaching 56.4% during the first eight months of the year.
In Europe, poultry prices have soared and bird flu has increased costs. The wholesale price of chicken increased 33% in August year-on-year, according to European Commission data.
Beer
Inflation has also been reflected in beer, which bears the brunt of the increase in the prices of barley and wheat, as well as from an increase in the price of aluminum for cans and glass for bottles, which are 70 percent more expensive than before the war in Ukraine, according to the Brewers of Europe.
Dutch beer company Heineken said it raised its prices by an average of 8.9% during the first six months of the year. According to Bloomberg estimates, Belgian-Brazilian AB InBev (Corona, Budweis, etc.) raised its prices by 8% in the first half.
In the UK, a pint (roughly a pint) of beer has topped £4, its highest price since 1987 according to the Office for National Statistics.
newspapers
The price of paper rose due to the need for energy in its production, and the price of pulp increased with the recovery in demand following the stone.
Prices of French newspapers including Le Figaro, L’Humanite and Le Point increased by a few dozen pennies in January.
In the UK, The Sun, The Times and the Sunday Mail have increased in price.
Some newspapers also reduced the number of pages. Overall in Europe, newspaper prices rose by 6.5% in July.
