Bread prices jump 18% amid fallout from war in Ukraine

Fall in exports of grains, wheat and sunflower oil from Russia and Ukraine have driven price rises, EU statistics agency said

'Prices for cooking oils and fats have risen particularly sharply, but important staple foods such as bread have also become significantly more costly,' Eurostat said

Bread is on average 18% more expensive across Europe from a year ago, while the costs of other foodstuffs have also risen sharply amid the fallout from the war in Ukraine, according to Eurostat.

The new release from the EU statistics agency provides a breakdown of the items in the European shopping basket after its harmonised figures published last week showed inflation across the eurozone was running at 9.1% in August.

"Bread, vegetables, meat — food has become more expensive," Eurostat said. 

"Prices for cooking oils and fats have risen particularly sharply, but important staple foods such as bread have also become significantly more costly" because exports from Ukraine and Russia, which are big producers of grains, wheat, maize, sunflower oils, and fertilisers have been heavily disrupted since the February invasion, the agency said.  

Bread prices have risen 18% in the EU from August last year, with prices in Hungary surging 66%, Lithuania with a 33% increase, and Estonia and Slovakia posting bread price rises of 32%, having the highest increases. 

The price of bread has risen the least in France, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, and has risen by 15% in Ireland from August 2021.  

Eurostat's figures last week showed that at 9%, Ireland’s overall inflation rate placed it almost in the middle of the eurozone inflation league.  

At 6.6%, France had the lowest inflation rate by far, reflecting its government’s huge commitment to spend billions of euro to subsidise energy bills for households and businesses.