Wine and dulce de leche are price villains in Argentina; see examples from other countries

Carrot and tomato in Brazil. Wine and dulce de leche in Argentina. Gasoline in the United States and European countries.

Data on high inflation in several countries show that the richest have been affected mainly by the price of fuel, while the poorest economies additionally suffer from the increase in food.

Survey carried out by Sheet shows the items with the highest increases in the 12 months ending in March for three developed economies (US, Germany and UK) and five emerging economies (Brazil, India, China, South Africa and Argentina).

Argentines live with one of the highest inflations in the world (55%). Brazil, with the highest rate among the major world economies (11.3%). China is one of the exceptions in the global scenario, with inflation of only 1.5%.

The rest face consumer inflation of 5% to 8.5% — the latter, the highest rate in about 40 years in the United States.

An IMF (International Monetary Fund) report released this month shows that food and energy/fuel prices are the main contributors to global inflation, but with different weights in different regions.

Last year, food was responsible for 5% of inflation in the US, 22% in Europe and 78% in Sub-Saharan Africa. Energy and fuels accounted for 46% of American inflation and 73% of European inflation.

In Brazil, food at home was 29% more expensive in the last 12 months, while fuel and energy inflation was 14%. In the United Kingdom and Germany, foodstuffs rose 6% in the period. Energy and fuels, 23%.

According to the Fund, the pressures on prices generated by the war in Ukraine should make inflation remain high for longer, especially in the case of food.

“The conflict is likely to have a prolonged impact on commodity prices, affecting oil and gas prices more severely in 2022 and food prices through 2023 (because of the lagged impact of this year’s harvest).”

In addition to the direct rise in the price of internationally traded products, the Fund highlights that, in most emerging markets, the rise in food prices is also influenced by bad weather that hit harvests and higher costs generated by the rise in fuel and fertilizers. .

As the IMF highlights, food is an important part of the consumption basket of families in low-income countries. In addition, some poorer nations have diets that are often concentrated on just one type of grain—wheat, maize and sorghum in sub-Saharan Africa, for example.