In Hungary, weather factors such as drought or flood-like rain are playing an important role in increasing costs. The Central Statistical Office has officially confirmed what everybody is already feeling in their wallets: the price of plant products has increased by more than 9% in a year.
This price increase is especially noticeable on the vegetable market, where crops, on average, have become two-thirds more expensive in 12 months. In an analysis published a few days ago, the HCSO compared the data for November 2017 and November 2018. This revealed that the price of cereals has increased by 13.4% in one year, with a 21.5% rise in the case of wheat. Meanwhile, vegetable prices have grown by 38%. The prices of tomatoes (+12.3%), cucumbers (+18.9%), lettuce (+18.9%) or carrots (+28.6) have also increased, but the most outstanding price rises are those of cabbage and onions, which are up by 65.5% and 68.7%, respectively.
Moreover, according to data from the HCSO, the amount of vegetables imported into the country has increased significantly in recent years. According to the agency, a little over 94 thousand tons of vegetables were imported in 2014, and in 2017, this figure had increased to about 137 thousand tons.
The increase is even more spectacular when we look at the price of those imported products. In 2014, imports were worth HUF 21.8 billion (68.52 million Euro), but this value had increased to 34.5 billion (108.44 million Euro) by 2017. One of the reasons for this is the large domestic demand, which cannot be fully satisfied with a good agricultural year.
Source: nepszava.hu