Food prices continued to fall in May.
It is possible to talk about a trend break, according to Ulf Mazur at Matpriskollen.
– It is a very rapid decline now, he says.
Food prices fell by 0.1 percent in May compared to April. This means that food prices have now fallen for two months in a row, according to Matpriskollen’s statistics.
– Now we get confirmation that April’s reduction was not just a bump in the road, says Ulf Mazur and describes it as a sharp rise in the pace of price increases.
Ulf Mazur agrees, the pressure on the food giants to lower prices has been “enormous”, mainly because customers are flocking to discount stores. That is what is now visible in the statistics.
Pressuring the suppliers
– Now the chains and stores are doing everything they can to keep prices from increasing. They are also pressuring the suppliers hard, it is at the level now that there is a complete stop to price increases. It is only in extreme cases that they let price increases go through, he says.
Although there has been a trend break in the last two months, food products are still much more expensive than a year ago. On an annual basis, food prices rose by 12.8 percent in May. However, it is a substantial decline from the peak in February, when prices rose by 17.8 percent.
– There is a huge difference in the rate of price increase. It is a very rapid decline now, and it is because we are facing high comparative figures from last year, says Ulf Mazur.
The price of ice cream rose the most in May, by 1 percent compared to April. For ice cream, the price increase is 15.4 percent in one year.
Dairy products became cheaper
The price of fruit and berries instead decreased by 1.9 percent compared to April and is now at a price increase rate of 3.3 percent in one year. That the price drops so much can be explained by the fact that many berries and fruits are in season.
Dairy products also fell in price in May, by 0.8 percent, but have risen by 14.2 percent in a year.
The food price index’s figures are based on the regular price of 43,000 items at all the major chains. The company reports statistics both for daily goods as a whole and for food-related products alone, where goods such as pet food and hygiene products are excluded.
For daily goods as a whole, the price was stable in May.
Facts: Food prices in May (TT)
In total, food prices fell by 0.1 percent in May compared to April.
Compared to twelve months ago, the increase in food prices is 12.8 percent.
If you look back further, and compare to January 2022 when the price rally really took off, food prices have increased by 21.3 percent.
Matpriskollen is a company that runs an app for consumers and collects food prices from the various chains. Consumers can use the app for free, among other things, to find offers and compare prices. The company is independent and finances its operations by selling data on prices and campaigns as analysis data.
Source: Matpriskollen