Adjustment of food prices as expected

Grocery store Price Test food price wagesGrocery Store. Photo: Norway Today Media

Adjustment of food prices as expected

Figures from Statistics Norway (SSB) show that the price of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose slightly by 1.2 per cent in June 2017. During the last year, from June 2016 to June 2017, food prices have risen slightly less than the consumer price index in general.
– The weak price increase is as expected. It is quite normal to see an adjustment of prices from May to June, partly because Norwegian fruit and vegetables are now on the market, says Ingvill Størksen. Størksen is CEO of Virke Grocery, the Norwegian federation of Groceries.

Food prices fluctuate throughout the year, and usually prices will go down around typical holidays such as Christmas and Easter, as well as around the start of Easter. The usual pattern is then that prices fluctuate up again afterwards.

– The price increase in June follows a regular pattern. The price has fluctuated slightly this month for three of the last four years, says Stokes. At the same time, we see that prices fluctuate somewhat more after we got three evenly sized grocery chains, she says.
Looking at the 12-month change, from June 2016 to June 2017, the price of food and non-alcoholic beverages has risen far less than the overall consumer price index.

Fierce competition

Food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by only 0.9 per cent during this period, while the consumer price index increased by 1.9 per cent during the same period.
– In spite of the expected price increase in June, fierce competition has led to low food prices throughout the past year, Størksen concludes.

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today