The food basket, defined by ASAE to calculate the evolution of prices, has increased by almost 29% since 2022 and until February of this year to 96.44 euros, it was announced this Thursday.
“In January 2022 it was at 74.90 euros and now [fevereiro] is at 96.44 euros”, said the Inspector General of the Food and Economic Security Authority (ASAE), Pedro Portugal Gaspar, who was speaking at a press conference at the Ministry of Economy and the Sea, in Lisbon. increase of 28.76%.
The ASAE basket consists of essential goods, namely fish, meat, vegetables, fruits, pasta, rice, olive oil, oil, eggs, sugar, milk, bread and flour.
The Minister of Economy, António Costa Silva, promised this Thursday to be “inflexible” towards all the anomalous situations verified in this sector.
According to data provided at the same press conference, ASAE has carried out, since the second half of 2022, more than 960 inspection actions and this Thursday it will start a new operation, across the country, with its 38 brigades.
As detailed by Pedro Portugal Gaspar, throughout the year, there was an upward trend, albeit with “stability between June and September”, from 88.09 euros to 88.28 euros, and from the last quarter of 2020, there was a new price rise.
The lowest value of this basket was found in January 2022, when it cost 74.90 euros, rising to 88.09 euros in June of the same year.
The highest price was found in February 2023.
ASAE’s monthly reports are intended to verify the conditions of supply, ruling out possible ‘stock’ ruptures, the evolution of prices, as well as to determine if there are signs of the practice of illegitimate profit.
On March 1, 38 brigades involving 80 inspectors from the Food and Economic Security Authority (ASAE) were on the ground to inspect food prices in hyper and supermarkets, in view of the 21.1% increase in the basic basket in the last year , more than double inflation.
