Drought could cause food prices to soar Spanish government warns

The cost of food could rise as Spain continues to grapple with a drought crisis, the government has warned.

During a presentation on Tuesday, 18 April, the Secretary General for Agriculture and Food Fernando Miranda, warned the severe conditions were starting to have an effect on production.

There had been 13 consecutive months of reduction in production costs, according to FAO indices, but Miranda pointed out that this could be cut short if the drought continued, with the level of rainfall in April even lower than last year.

The Minister of Agriculture Luis Planas said that prices for the time being showed no signs of being reduced, only "contained".

He said that in February food prices rose by 16.6%, while in March the rise was 16.5%. "We are at a time of price containment despite the complicated context due to the war in Ukraine and the drought," he said.

But high inflation was limiting the growth of the Spanish food industry, which after several years advanced at a very good pace, and in 2022 saw consumption shrink by 1.1% to 66,294 million euros, according to government data.

The study presented on Tuesday revealed that average household spending per person fell by 1.8% last year to 1,427 euros per year, 26 euros less than in 2021.

This was due to rising prices and measures taken to contain inflation such as interest rate hikes, which led households to contain their spending and change their consumption patterns, Fiab pointed out.