2022 was a year that was marked by the increase in the cost of living, with food being the expense that has put the most pressure on the pockets of Colombian households.
In view of the inflation results for 2022, which will be delivered today, Bancolombia’s economic research team estimates that food would have recorded a monthly rise of close to 2.4% in Decemberbut there is a group of groceries that drag disproportionate increases and would have made the basic basket more expensive.
the most expensive
According to Dane, in its annual variation to November 2022, the largest increases occurred in products such as cassava (107.64%), arracacha, yams and other tubers (104.09%) and onion (89.63% ).
Regarding animal protein, beef led the rise with 21.60%; followed by pork with 11.94%; and the chicken with 16.75%.
And it is that in Medellín, for example, according to the Information System of Prices and Supply of the Agricultural Sector (Sipsa), the kilo of onion went from costing $2,383 in January 2022 to $5,326 in December. That is, it had an increase of 123.5%.
On the other hand, the kilo of a cut of beef like the morillo went from being worth $23,725 in January to $28,938 in December, with an increase of 21.97%.
Why?
According to the Rural Agricultural Planning Unit (UPRA), the strong increases in food prices in December are mainly explained by factors such as the reduction in the supply of some products, result of lower harvests —case of rice and potatoes—; and the seasonal increase in demand for the celebration of the festivitieswhere the demand for meat, eggs and some fruits such as grapes is increasing.
“An opposite behavior occurred in cassava: the prices of the llanera, the criolla and the chirosa fell. Likewise, the diamond, criollo and espino yams presented a reduction in their prices. Similarly, a fact that deserves to be highlighted is the improvement in the supply of fruit. The income of mangoes, sideburns, guavas, lulo, Hass avocado, common orange, passion fruit and tangerines increased,” explained the director of Upra, Felipe Fonseca Fino.
Likewise, Juan Pablo Espinosa, director of Investigaciones Bancolombia, affirmed that This upward behavior would be a reflection of the intensification of the winter season and the increase in the cost of inputs due to a higher Market Representative Rate (TRM). and international fertilizer prices.
estimates
According to Bancolombia’s projections, in its monthly variation to December the highest price increases occurred in vegetables, fruits and tubers, with onion being the product with the highest growth, with 25.7%.
And they are followed by bananas (14.25%), potatoes (11.54%), oranges (11.31%), blackberries (7.79%) and tomatoes (5.07%). The group of cereals also presented increases, corn increased 2.94%, wheat 1.75%, oats 1.37% and coffee 0.61%.
For its part, in terms of animal protein, pork would lead the rise with 3.9%, followed by beef with 1.67%, prepared meats with 1.5% and eggs with 1. 2%. On the contrary, the prices of poultry meat are the only group of products that presented an approximate reduction of 0.2%.
At the same time, The cities that would present a greater increase in the price of food would be Santa Marta, Manizales and Montería. On the contrary, it would be expected that a slight drop was observed in Armenia and Cartagena.
If this expectation materializes, annual food inflation would close the year at a figure of around 29%; a figure much higher than the 17.23% registered in 2021.
