Norway’s state statistics bureau SSB (Statistics Norway) has recorded the biggest monthly price hike for food in more than 40 years. The cost of SSB’s standard market basket of goods at the grocery store jumped 4.5 percent from January to February.
SSB attributed the higher prices mostly to annual negotiations between wholesalers and Norway’s large grocery store chains, which are owned by just three major players. There have also been hikes in many of the components of food production, along with higher rates for transportation.
Consumers have already been noticing and complaining about higher prices, some of them in double digits for popular everyday items. They’re likely to rise even more: “We haven’t seen the effect of the war in Ukraine yet,” said Nordea Bank’s chief economist, Kjetil Olsen. “Price growth is high, and will be higher.”
newsinenglish.no staff
