Minister questioned over whether UK food prices are really lower than Europe’s

MEL STRIDE, the UK’s Work and Pensions secretary insisted that the UK’s food prices were rising more slowly than in other countries.

Discussing food price inflation on the BBC’s Radio 4 shortly before the May figures were announced, Stride said it was running at roughly 20 per cent in Germany, Portugal and Sweden.

“So it’s higher than it is here,” he said.

The most recent figures for all four countries cover the year ending in April 2023, a period when the UK recorded higher food inflation rates than the others.

Stride would have been correct based on the April figures although Germany, Sweden and Portugal’s food inflation has fallen significantly since March.  Meanwhile the UK figures have remained high.

The UK’s 19 per cent food inflation in April exceeded the European Union average of 16.4 per cent and was higher than in all the major European economies.

It was topped only by Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovakia and Hungary.

BBC Verify asked Mr Stride’s department which figures he was referring to.

“We were told he was talking about the first three months of 2023, when UK food price inflation was 18 per cent and Sweden, Germany and Portugal were all over 20 per cent,” the BBC explained.

According to an analysis from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) price rises were the result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has affected energy prices, together with supplies of grain and fertiliser.

Unpredictable weather in Europe and North Africa has also impacted on the price of fruit and vegetable imports, while labour shortages in the UK meant that not all fruit and vegetable crops could be harvested.

Meanwhile, global wholesale food prices are gradually falling, although these reductions take some time to filter through to supermarket prices and customers must wait before noticing a difference in their bills.

The ONS also pointed out that the UK has a greater reliance on food imports while price increases have been lower for European countries which grow or produce more of their food.