Inflation has been an ongoing issue for several years now, making many household items more expensive than they were previously. Unfortunately, food items are not exempt from this trend, with many households’ grocery shopping costs becoming increasingly more unaffordable due to inflated pricing.
In a new report on the impact of inflation on food prices, the established e-commerce network Ubuy researched food inflation trends over a 12-month, three-year, and five-year period. They looked at official statistical data from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and the European Union to see how inflation rates differ around the world and which countries have been hit the hardest.
“The report found that Australia has seen the third-lowest regional inflation change in a 12-month period, with food items increasing 9% on average. This is significantly lower than the international average of all countries in the study, 18.2%,” according to Ubuy.
| Region | 12-month inflation | 3-year inflation | 5-year inflation |
| Australia | 9% | 11.9% | 15.7% |
| International average | 18.2% | 30.8% | 36.3% |
“Moving into the longer-term, three-year inflation figures for Australia on average were 11.9% – still far lower than the international average of 30.8%. Similarly, five-year inflation data was at 15.7% on average, almost 20% below the international average (36.3%).
“The research revealed that the product that has seen the biggest price increase in a 12-month period within Australia is edible cooking oils (excluding olive oil). The common household cooking component has seen inflation rise by 21%. Analysing data over three years, edible oils have seen inflation increase by 20.5% – with five-year figures showing a 28.8% increase overall.”
Similarly, other products with high 12-month inflation values include:
- Whole milk (18%)
- Cheese and curd (14%)
- Bread (13%).
“Overall, the report helped to provide a visualised analysis of the rise in food costs over a 12-month, three-year, and five-year period. The data revealed that, despite seeing some significant increases on certain products, Australia is one of the best countries for food inflation rates, with the third-lowest regional average increase over 12 months.”
