Inflation is lower in Romanian grocery stores than in Hungary

By: Trademagazin Date: 2022. 09. 20. 13:02

Although, according to official data, the rate of inflation in Romania was not much lower in August than in Hungary, the prices of several products that are extremely expensive at home also rose to a much lesser extent in the neighboring country. One such example is food, which at home costs almost 31 percent more than a year ago, while prices abroad “only” increased by 18.2 percent – explains Pénzcentrum, based on data from Eurostat and KSH.

In Romania, prices increased by 18.2 percent

This can be explained, among other things, by the fact that Romanian inflation is pushed up considerably by energy prices, which are not yet necessarily visible in the August Hungarian data. Inflation has skyrocketed in Hungary: according to the Central Statistical Office, in August overall consumer prices were on average 15.6% higher than a year earlier. Food prices rose by 30.9% compared to the same period last year.

In addition, Eurostat published an even worse figure, since they already included in the statistics the utility fees that increased from the first of August. Thus, according to them, inflation in Hungary was 18.6 percent in August. This means that compared to July, the increase was 3.7 percentage points, which makes ours the highest value in the EU.

Now, after examining the inflation statistics, we looked at the situation in terms of price increases in Romania, which is typically in the worst situation among the neighboring EU countries. Although the Romanian statistical office does not necessarily examine the same products as the Hungarian one, according to their calculations, prices in Romania were 15.3 percent higher overall in August than a year earlier.

The full article can be read here, with a graph.