Hold the olive oil! Prices of some basic European foodstuffs keep skyrocketing

By RAF CASERT
Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — Olive oil is continuing its staggering rise in prices in Europe. It is the prime example of how food still outruns overall inflation in the European Union. Olive oil has increased by around 75% since January 2021. That dwarfs overall annual inflation that has already been considered unusually high over the past few years and even stood at 11.5 % in October last year. The world’s biggest olive oil producer is Spain. Prices in the country jumped 53% in August compared to the previous year and a massive 115% since August 2021. And apart from olive oil potato prices were also on a staggering rise. Prices increased by 53% since January 2021.