There is less and less left to celebrate National holidays and Chileans will have to face continued high food prices, despite the truce that inflation has given recently, according to a report by the Diego Portales University Economic Context Observatory (OCEC-UDP).
For this analysis the eighteenth basket of 2018, was defined by the National Consumer Service (Sernac). This consists of 25 products. Sobrecostilla, sausage, empanadas, pineapple ice cream, bread, green chili, potatoes, and pipeño are some of them.
The division of Meat and sausages represents 34% of expenses. Baked foods (bread and empanadas) achieved a total score of 18.4% of purchases from the 18th century. Charcoal and desserts are the least represented.
To see price developments, the annual fluctuations of individual products are taken into account using the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
According to the report by senior economist Juan Ortiz and researcher Carolina Molinare: In 2018, the average cost of the eighteenth basket was $53,593. It is estimated that By 2023, the average shopping cart value will be $88,202 -about $30,000 more expensive.
The minimum daily spending for this eighteenth is expected to be $67,524 per family and a maximum of $108,721.
More limited increase than in 2022
Compared to last year the food package from the 18th century would increase by $4,509. From the OCEC-UDP they highlight that despite this increase The annual fluctuation has weakened compared to 2022, “which explains the inflationary convergence process that the country is currently undergoing.”.
With overall inflation at 14.1%, the value of the basket increased by 20.5% compared to the previous year. This year, With annual inflation at 5.3%, the 12-month variation in the national holiday product range is expected to be 5.4%.
This year, Meat and sausage products as well as bread and empanadas are the products that have the greatest influence on moderating the shopping cart price (-1.3 percentage points).. “This would partially explain why the annual variation of the eighteenth basket was more limited compared to the previous year, considering that the same divisions are those that had the greatest impact on the annual increase in 2022 and correspond to the highest share.” of holiday basket spending,” the report said.
Another factor that the OCEC-UDP takes into account is the extent to which the cost of the basket reflects families’ income. In 2022, the average monthly cash income registered in Casen is $1,304,304. The eighteenth basket accounted for 6.5% of monthly income.
“By 2023, this percentage is expected to be lower.“As average monthly money income is expected to be higher and prices will moderate their upward trend,” conclude Ortiz and Molinare’s analysis.
