For Italians, It’s Getting Even More Expensive to Make a Bowl of Pasta

(Bloomberg) -- Rising prices in Italy for food staples like tomatoes, pasta and olive oil means cooking the average spaghetti dish has just gotten more expensive.

The cost for tomatoes increased 12% last month compared to a year ago, according to the latest data from Italy’s national statistics institute. That’s after an 18% increase in September. 

Pasta saw an almost 5% spike due to a drought that reduced North American production of durum wheat, the grain used to make flour for things like spaghetti, forcing Italian producers to scramble to find the precious grain.

Droughts, supply-chain hiccups and increased demand have sent food prices across the globe up by nearly a third in the past year, according to the latest United Nations data. In Italy, overall food prices are lower than the consumer price index due to seasonal declines in things like the price of oranges which was down 8% last month.

Energy costs are still the biggest component currently fanning inflation. Italian price growth is set to stay above 2% through mid-2022, a Bloomberg survey of economists published earlier this week shows.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.