According to DR, shopping trips in Danish stores have become cheaper overall, after food prices fell by 2.1 percent in July compared to the same month last year, according to the latest figures from Statistics Denmark (Danmarks Statistik).
Shopping baskets have become cheaper... but not for everyone.
The latest data shows that the Danish consumer is paying less on average for food compared to last year, with food prices down 2.1 percent in July.
But this decrease does not include all products; butter, cheese, dairy products, some types of milk and meat have become cheaper, while the prices of eggs, fresh citrus fruits, cocoa drinks, frozen fruits and others have increased.
Therefore, a decrease in average food prices does not necessarily mean that every family will notice the same decrease in the value of their purchases, as this depends on the type of products they put in their shopping basket.
Lower food prices ease pressure on families
Dairy products were among the goods that contributed to pushing prices down, with prices for butter, oils and fats made from milk falling by 11.8 percent over the year.
Cheese and dairy prices have also declined significantly, and the prices of several types of milk have also decreased.
Butter and meat are among the cheapest commodities.
The price drop was not limited to dairy products, as meat also contributed to pushing food prices down.
Pork and lamb recorded the largest decrease among the types of meat found in supermarket refrigerators, according to data from Danmarks Statistik, as reported by DR.
This comes at a time when some Danish stores have started offering very low prices for butter, as the DR website indicated that SuperBrugsen and Kvickly offered butter for six kroner, while Lidl and Føtex offered it for 9.95 kroner.
Economist: Danes will pay less at the fund
Brian Friis Helmer, a personal economics expert at Sydbank, believes that lower food prices are good news for Danish households. In an analysis he published, Helmer said that many Danes will certainly welcome lower food prices, as it means needing to take fewer kroner out of their pockets when paying for purchases at the checkout.
Egg and citrus prices rise
Despite the general decline in food prices, not all goods have benefited from this trend.
Data from Danmarks Statistik showed that eggs became more expensive over the past year, making them one of the commodities that moved in the opposite direction to the general decline in food prices.
Fresh citrus fruits saw the biggest price increase among food items, becoming 16.9 percent more expensive than the previous year.
Prices for a number of other products, including cocoa drinks and frozen fruit, have also risen significantly.
Thus, price data paints a mixed picture within Danish stores; while the prices of a large group of food items have decreased, the prices of other goods have risen significantly.
The decline comes after a long period of rising prices.
The drop in food prices coincides with the ongoing debate in Denmark about the cost of living and the measures that can be taken to ease the burden on families.
The government had proposed plans to halve the value-added tax on food items, along with abolishing the value-added tax on fruits and vegetables, in an attempt to reduce the cost of the shopping basket.
But these plans have faced criticism from economists, including chief economist Carl-Johan Dalgaard, who warned that reducing VAT and applying different rates to goods could lead to administrative complications.
According to the Danish Ministry of Taxation, the proposed tax changes are estimated to reduce state treasury revenues by approximately 17.4 billion Danish kroner annually.
