€738 more per person per year: this is how much food has become more expensive compared to 2020

BarcelonaOn average, each Catalan is spending around €738 more per year on food today if their consumption habits haven't changed, compared to January 2020, just before the outbreak of the pandemic. In less than five years, the cost of food has increased by 37% for the average family. The rise in food prices is one of the factors that has most impacted the majority of families, not only in Catalonia but throughout Europe, in the last five years. With the arrival of COVID-19 and the lockdowns in early 2020, the initial concern was the scarcity of certain products in supermarkets, but it soon became clear that these fears were unfounded and that—despite a few isolated exceptions—store supplies continued normally despite the severe shortages. Food prices didn't rise significantly that year.

However, it did begin to do so in 2021, when, with the reactivation of the global economy, inflation started to take hold. And with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which drove up energy costs, it spiraled out of control, reaching 10% annually in the summer of that year. Since then, inflation has been more moderate, but this doesn't mean that prices are falling, simply that they are rising more slowly. And they have continued to do so since then, at a rate higher than the 2% that the European Central Bank considers optimal: last month Year-on-year inflation in Catalonia was 2.6%. And in Spain, it's 3%, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI, the indicator that measures the evolution of the cost of living for families) compiled by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). To calculate the CPI each month, the INE annually compiles a basic shopping basket in which it assigns a specific weight to each product based on household consumption. This basket includes all kinds of products and services that citizens regularly spend money on, from electricity bills to rent, including expenses at cinemas, restaurants, mobile phones, and train tickets, to name a few. With this data, they create a snapshot of the average citizen's consumption expenditures. Furthermore, the INE also has data on how much each citizen spends annually on consumption groups, for example, on food. By combining these three statistics, a calculation can be generated to determine how much the average Catalan's shopping bill has increased when they go to the market or supermarket.

The accompanying graph shows how the price of each food product (or product group) has increased for the average Catalan between January 2020 and October 2025, assuming they have maintained their consumption habits from the beginning of five years ago. It's important to note that this exercise is purely indicative, firstly because it represents an average (not an individual) and secondly because price fluctuations alter consumption habits: when a product becomes more expensive, people look for cheaper alternatives (if beef prices rise, they eat more chicken), and vice versa. However, it does provide insight into the extent to which household budgets have been affected by food inflation. Specifically, without changing the 2020 shopping basket, last month each Catalan paid €738.20 more per year on food, 37% more than five years ago. In a family of four, this means, on average, an increase in annual food spending of €2,952. To give a sense of the impact, this additional €738 that each Catalan must pay when buying food exceeds half the gross monthly salary (i.e., before taxes) of a worker currently earning the minimum wage (€1,381 in 12 payments) or almost 20% of the average gross monthly salary in Catalonia.

Fresh food prices have skyrocketed

As can be seen in the graph, the rise in the cost of fresh food has had the greatest impact on citizens' wallets, due to a combination of factors: it is among the items that have increased the most in price, and it also represents a larger percentage of spending than other products consumed in smaller quantities. Fruit is the clearest example: the average Catalan will pay around 83 euros more this year than in 2020. Similarly, on average, a citizen will spend 42 euros more this year than five years ago on beef, 35 euros more on fresh vegetables, and 25 euros more on chicken. Along the same lines, very basic foods that should represent a smaller expense, such as bread and other bakery products, have also become significantly more expensive, and to a lesser extent, eggs, butter, and chocolate.

However, there are a few isolated cases that offer a glimmer of optimism to families. One example is olive oil, which, despite being more expensive than in 2020, tripled in price two years ago and has remained relatively stable ever since. it has become cheaper.