ATHENS – While Greece’s economy has rebounded big time from a 2010-18 economic and austerity crisis, and investment grade status returned, it isn’t helping many Greek households whacked by high food prices and cutting back purchases.
At the same time that foreign investors were being lured with incentives including tax breaks, Greeks are among the most heavily-taxed and underpaid in the European Union and food costs are only now beginning to recede somewhat.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis earlier asked the EU to intervene over profiteering by international conglomerates in the food sector although domestic companies were also charging far more for many products, especially olive oil.
That was said because of inflation and the effects of climate change that brought lesser yields before the sector began righting itself but olive oil prices still so high in a country known for the product that many consumers switched to alternatives.
A survey by the country’s statistics agency ELSTAT found that 2023 was a third consecutive year of food price hikes and that the average household was spending more than 20 percent of its income at the supermarket.
Adding in housing costs, the average household was spending 34.1 percent of its income for food and shelter, but as high as 55.8 percent for the poorest which are struggling to cope while the economy expands.
The average annual expenditure of households for purchases in 2023 was 20,223.36 euros ($22,589.98 or 1,685.28 euros ($1,882.17 per month) which was a jump of 5.3 percent compared to 2022.
The average annual expenditure for each person in 2023 was 8,358.24 euros ($9,334.70) for an increase of 11.2 percent, amounting to 841.92 euros ($940.28) per year compared to 2022 when it was 7,516.32 euros ($8,394.42.)
While Greeks and residents spent more money on basics they were consuming less, meaning they were spending more for smaller quantities because of the costs, representing a drop in supermarket volume sales but not in profits.
They also ate 10.7 percent less rice, 6.1 percent less meat, 5.3 percent fewer eggs and 5.2 percent less milk and pasta, and even cut down on bread by 4.3 percent, 4 percent for fruits and 3.4 percent on vegetables despite open air markets.
