48.9 percent of the products affected by the VAT reduction have increased their prices in September, according to the analysis of almost a thousand products carried out monthly by Facua, which has asked the Ministry of Consumer Affairs to sanction companies that increase “illegally their profit margins with these products.”
In September, this consumer organization carried out new monitoring of the evolution of almost a thousand foods affected by the VAT reduction in eight large distribution chains: Alcampo, Aldi, Carrefour, Dia, Eroski, Lidl, Hipercor and Mercadona, according to reported in a statement.
In the first month of the year, Facua only detected increases in 6.7% of the products analyzed in these food chains; in February they were 17.4%; in March 30.8%; in April 42%; in May 43.8%: in June 44.7%; in July 47%; in August 48.4%, and in September 48.9%.
On this occasion, the association has reviewed the evolution of 962 prices in these eight distribution chains on September 4, 6, 12, 13 and 14 and has detected that in 470, that is, 48.9%, the price has become more expensive compared to what they had on December 30 once the VAT reduction was applied.
This September, the highest number of increases has been detected in Carrefour, where 92 of the total of 150 prices analyzed have increased in price (61.3%), followed by Hipercor, with 88 products more expensive than on December 30 ( once the VAT reduction has been applied) on a sample of 166 prices (53%).
Alcampo has increased 66 of the 125 prices analyzed (52.8%), while Lidl has increased 29 of the 58 foods collected in this study (50%).
Likewise, it has detected 31 more expensive prices in Lidl for a total of 63 foods (49.2%) while in Eroski 63 items of the 133 considered have become more expensive (47.3%).
The two chains where the lowest percentage of price increases has been recorded are Mercadona, with 54 products out of the total of 137 included in the analysis (39.4%) and Dia, with 47 increases among the 130 prices registered (36. 1%).
In Mercadona, Hipercor, Eroski and Carrefour the total number of foods that have become more expensive has increased compared to August, while in Dia, Alcampo, Aldi and Lidl the percentage of prices with increases in the last month has decreased.
Of the total of 470 prices in which Facua has detected an increase in its comparison, 140 are fruits or vegetables (29.7% of the total), 101 are olive oils (20%) and 68 are rice and pasta (the 14.4%).
For its part, 66 price increases have been found among milk and dairy products (14%) and 43 among legumes (9.1%) and the remaining fifty prices correspond to eggs, flour and bread, according to Facua’s analysis.
