Highest price increase since 1961
Agriculture expects new price shock
May 12, 2022, 1:30 p.m
While prices in German supermarkets are skyrocketing as a result of the Ukraine war, producer prices for agricultural products are also rising rapidly. In March, they reached a new record high of 34.7 percent compared to the same month last year. Authorities expect further increases.
Producer prices for agricultural products rose at a record pace this March. They increased by a full 34.7 percent as of March 2021. This is the highest price increase compared to a month in the previous year since the survey began in 1961, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office. Compared to February alone, prices have risen by a good 15 percent. Both the prices of plant products (up 42.1 percent) and animal products (up 29.5 percent) shot up.
According to the Wiesbaden statisticians, the rapid rise in the price of plant-based products can be attributed in part to the rise in grain prices since July 2020. In March, these were a good 70 percent higher than in the same month last year. Because of the war in Ukraine, supply is tight, which drives up prices. As a result, the already tense situation on the world market has worsened significantly. Rapeseed also became significantly more expensive (plus 70 percent). Here, too, a lack of deliveries from the Black Sea region is affecting global supply.
Potato producer prices continued to rise in March and almost doubled within a year (plus 91.7 percent). According to the statisticians, this is due to poor harvests due to the weather and a relatively low price level in the same month of the previous year. With a relatively large harvest in 2021, demand from the catering industry also fell due to the pandemic.
In contrast, producer prices for fruit fell by a good 12 percent. Producer prices describe the payment excluding sales tax that farmers receive for their products at the first level of trade. Rising producer prices tend to lead to higher consumer prices. The German Farmers’ Association expects food to become even more expensive because of the war in Ukraine.