Greece emerges as the champion in increasing the prices of agricultural products among European countries in the first quarter of 2024.
According to her data Eurostat, At national level, the majority of EU countries (21 of the 25 with available data) recorded a decline in nominal prices for agricultural production in the first quarter of 2024, compared to the same quarter of 2023. The largest decline in prices was recorded in Hungary (24%), Bulgaria, Romania (both 18%) and Slovakia and the Czech Republic (both 17%).
Instead, prices rose in 5 southern EU countries., with Greece recording by far the highest rate of appreciation, which stands at 20%, followed by Malta and Spain with comparatively milder increases at 4% and Portugal with Cyprus (1%).
At European level, in the first quarter of the year the average price of agricultural production fell 6% compared to the same quarter of 2023. From the analysis of Eurostat data, the index for all crops, including fruit and vegetables, in real terms, indicates that in Greece the increase is 27.2%, followed by Luxembourg with 14%, Portugal with 5.9%, Spain with 5.7%, Malta with 3.6%, Slovenia with 3.1% and Germany with 1.2%.
What triggers explosive appreciation in Greece
But why do producer prices in Greece seem to have such large deviations compared to the rest of the European market? The answer depends on many factors.
In the first reading, in the given situation, O oil and fresh fruits and vegetables, are those that maintain the producer price index at very high levels. In o, with regard to oil price rises constitute as a result of reduced production. Signs of improvement in the new vegetative cycle are expected both in Spain, which is a barometer of evolution, and in national production, which this year was very low, in the order of 20-25% in several regions.
For price developments in fresh fruits and vegetables The reality for national producers is that they do not develop the same adaptive reflexes as large crops on the European market. At the same time as the great pressure received by producers due to the high costs due to the 2022-2023 energy crisis in Greece, extreme weather events occurred that affected or destroyed harvests. The small batch combined with the lack of organization among producers to obtain economies of scale makes national producers particularly vulnerable to exogenous risks.
The healing time in Thessaly, but also the effects of drought,which affect almost all national production are parameters that determine the increase in costs.
Next to a large portion of national producers are on the ropes from 2020 onwards with the covid-19 crisis it has dropped a lot of market data that affects the sector’s finances and many agricultural activities remain “red”.
Greek producers are at a disadvantage compared to European ones
What is important to highlight is that your intention rural world is not to maintain high producer prices like the risk remain unavailable The quantities due to intense competition from other countries (as for example in oranges) are large.
O struggle to adapt to climate change and other factors considers that Greek producers in a much more unfavorable position compared to their other European colleagues.
The lack of cooperation and the weakened cooperative model in Greece are a strong factor undermining the inability to deal with risks, both now and in the future.
The solution for sustainable domestic primary sector Accessible agricultural products accessible to consumers must be sought in strategic planning that promotes business practices and focuses on the particularities of the country’s morphology as well as the limited liquidity that the sector has.
Cereal and milk prices are falling across Europe
From the analysis of Eurostat data, the index for all crops, including fruit and vegetables, in real prices indicates that in Greece the increase is 27.2%, followed by Luxembourg with 14%, Portugal with 5.9%, Spain with 5.7%, Malta with 3.6%, Slovenia with 3.1% and Germany with 1.2%. Overall at EU level, there was a 4.5% drop in the real prices of agricultural products in the first quarter of this year.
At European level, there was a particularly strong decline in the average nominal price of cereals, which fell by 28%. The price of milk fell by 12%, eggs by 10% and fresh vegetables by 6%, while the price of tomatoes fell by 33%. On the other hand, the average price of potatoes increased by 22% and that of fresh fruit by 20%. In Greece, the average price of cereals decreased marginally by 0.2%, while there was an increase of 0.9% for milk, 5.5% for tomatoes, 7.9% for eggs, 12.2% for fresh vegetables, 8.8% in potatoes and 33% in fresh fruits.
Over the same period, the average price of goods and services currently consumed in agriculture (non-investment inputs) fell by 11% at European level. In Greece, the decline was 3.1%, while the only market that recorded an increase was Portugal, where the average price of goods increased by 1.5%.