Potato prices in Slovakia up by more than 50%

Potatoes in Slovakia have become more than 50% more expensive than last year, reports Eva Sadovská, analyst at the Slovak Farmers Association (SFD).

In February 2019, the average price of potatoes was 0.82 Euro, compared to 0.54 Euro in the same month of 2018. This entails an increase of 51.5 percent.

She pointed out that, in the past 20 years, potatoes have rarely exceeded the 80 cents; this price level is thus considered a maximum. Over the past ten years, the average price of a kilo of potatoes has been 0.57 Euro.

Sadovská said that the consumption of potatoes in Slovakia is constantly falling. While each person consumed an average of 78.6 kilograms per year 20 years ago, 10 years ago this figure had dropped to 58.7 kilograms, and in 2017 to only 48.9 kilograms.

Eva Sadovská:

“The country is not self-sufficient, as about 50 percent of the potatoes consumed are grown here, and the rest is imported from abroad.”

The production area is also becoming smaller. The acreage devoted to potatoes stood at 32,500 hectares 20 years ago, 17,800 hectares 10 years ago, and at only 7,500 hectares in 2017.