Top of the biggest price increases in food last month / Inflation is going down but food remains very expensive

Sugar, butter, potatoes, margarine, eggs, milk and cow’s milk are the foods that rose in price the most in April, although the inflation rate reported by the INS on Friday was consistently decreasing. In one month, inflation dropped from 14.5 to 11.2%, but the population is not yet feeling this steep drop.

• The consumer price index in April 2023 compared to March 2023 is 100.75%.

• The annual inflation rate in April 2023 compared to April 2022 is 11.2%.

The products described at the beginning of the article went up in price by 28% or even 58%, in the case of sugar. What dragged down the average prices were fuel and drug prices, INS data also show

Even if inflation is falling, this does not mean that prices are falling in turn, just that they are rising more slowly.

​Inflation is everyone’s problem, unlike crises or unemployment, which only affect some. Wages, although they have grown at a high speed (over 13%), do not keep pace with the accelerated increase in prices and accentuate the feeling of financial discomfort. When you go grocery shopping, you spend more money on the same products than last month, and it feels like money is slipping through your fingers.

In addition to inflation generated “locally”, Romania imports inflation from outside, especially from countries with which we have large trade deficits and where prices are higher than in Romania. “Look at the deficit we have with Germany or Hungary! You will see how much inflation we import from there”, drew the attention of the president of INS Tudorel Andrei.

In Germany, food prices have increased by over 17% (data as of February 2023) and we import over €5 billion of German goods annually. Similarly, inflation in Hungary has exceeded 25%, and imports are approaching 2 billion euros annually.

Romania also exports inflation to countries like the United Kingdom (with which we have a trade surplus and “Romanian” inflation is higher than the British one), to the Republic of Moldova, to the USA or to France. The list is longer, but it also includes Morocco, Japan, Norway, Gibraltar and the other countries with which we have a trade surplus and where inflation is lower than ours.