Between 22 and 29 November it reduced by €5.5 (-3.63 percent) and cost €136.92 on 29 November.

Compared to the beginning of the year, there has been an increase in the price of the basket of €3.10 (+2.32 percent) and since the measure was put into action, there has been a reduction of €2.00 (-144 percent).

But not all foods covered by the measure are cheaper. Among the products that have become more expensive since 18 April are: broccoli (58 percent), oranges (37 percent), extra virgin olive oil (33 percent) and lettuce (31 percent).

In the last week, between the 22 and 27 November, the following products registered the highest increase percentage in the VAT 0 basket, monitored by DECO PROTESTE: spaghetti pasta (16 percent), cooking oil (5 percent), whole chicken (4 percent), onion (4 percent), salted butter (3 percent), turkey leg (3 percent), broccoli (1 percent), packaged cheese (1 percent), red potato (1 percent), semi-skimmed milk (1 percent).

Horse mackerel, hake and rice lead declines in the last week

According to analysis by Deco/Proteste, the 10 products that have reduced are horse mackerel (23 percent), fresh hake (14 percent), rice (11 percent), gala apple (11 percent), pork febras (7 percent), orange (6 percent), crustless bread (6 percent), pork chops (5 percent), sea bream (4 percent), and lettuce (4 percent).

The VAT exemption on more than 40 foods results from an agreement signed on 27 March between the Government food retail and agri-food production. The measure aims to mitigate the effects of food price increases and is in force until the end of this year, after being extended by the Government on 7 September (the measure was scheduled to end on 31 October).

The list of products that now have VAT 0 was defined based on recommendations from the Dictorate-General for Health. It includes the foods most consumed by families in Portugal, in accordance with information provided by the association that represents food distribution companies.

The price of the “normal” basket also decreased

The price of the basket of 63 essential goods, monitored by DECOPROTESTE also broke the trend of consecutive increases and has now dropped in price. Yesterday it cost €225.58, €6.12 less (-2.64 percent) compared to the previous week.

If we compare this value with the same period last year, the price of the basket rose by €6.36 (2.90 percent more).

In the last week, the highest increase percentage were spaghetti (16 percent), salmon (12 percent), cereal (8 percent), whole wheat rice and oat cereals (8 percent), roasted ground coffee (5 percent), Frankfurt sausages (5 percent), cooking oil (5 percent), chicken (4 percent), onion (4 percent) and salted butter (3 percent).

Between 23 February and 29 November, 2022, the products that rose in price the most were virgin olive oil (115 percent), oranges (75 percent), tomato pulp (72 percent), hake (70 percent), onion (69 percent), carolina rice (69 percent), white sugar (59 percent), cereal (53 percent), broccoli (50 percent) and heart cabbage (50 percent).

Taking into account product categories, the biggest increase percentage during that time were recorded in grocery stores (37.12 percent, plus €15.65), in fruits and vegetables (24.81 percent, plus €5.86).