The price of olive oil skyrockets: 67% more expensive than a year ago and 10.1% higher than in August

MADRID, 13 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The price of olive oil soared 67% in September compared to the same month in 2022, its largest year-on-year increase in 21 years, and increased 10.1% compared to the month of August, according to data from the CPI statistics published this Friday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

From March 2021 to September of this year, the price of olive oil has increased by 136.6%, that is, more than double. The so-called 'liquid gold' has accumulated 29 consecutive months of year-on-year increases until September, with double-digit growth in the last 28 months.

The price of olive oil began its current upward path in April 2021, when a year-on-year increase of 2% was recorded, which expanded to 5% in May. From then on and for 28 consecutive months, it has become more expensive at double-digit rates.

Farmers point to drought as the source of higher olive oil prices. The lack of water has caused, for the second consecutive year, a poor harvest, as production has not reached the levels necessary to satisfy demand.

In monthly values, its price has risen in eight of the last nine months. The latest data, from September, reflects that olive oil cost Spanish households 10.1% more than in August.

According to data from the INE, the average consumption of olive oil per household stood at 22.1 liters in 2022, the highest figure since 2018, when its average consumption was 22.2 liters per family.

This figure is far from the 30.4 liters that each household consumed on average in 2007, the year in which the financial crisis broke out.

During the first year of the pandemic, the average household consumption of olive oil was 20.5 liters, a figure that increased as Spain regained normality, reaching 22.1 liters in 2022.

The average expenditure per household on olive oil reached 97.7 euros in 2022, compared to 77.6 euros in 2021. That is, last year, households spent on average 20.1 euros more on olive oil than in the immediately preceding year.

This is the highest figure since 2007, when the average expenditure per household on olive oil stood at 98.9 euros. Between 2006 and 2022, the year with the lowest spending on this basic product in the so-called Mediterranean diet was 2020, the first year of the pandemic, when an average of 65.5 euros per household was reached.