According to monitoring carried out by Deco Proteste, the cost of the essential food basket rose again this week to 238.49 euros, which is 1.89 euros more than the previous week. Since the start of the war in Ukraine two years ago this Friday, the value of the basket has risen by 54.86 euros, an increase of approximately 30%. In this set of 63 products that make up the basket, extra virgin olive oil has increased in price the most since February 2022: 148%. At the beginning of the war, olive oil cost 4.65 euros, and this week it is 11.52 euros plus 6.87 euros. Horse mackerel, which cost €3.32 per kilo two years ago, reached €5.48 this week, representing an increase of more than 65%. Over the past week, the greatest increase was recorded in the price of fresh hake, which increased by 24%. According to information published this Thursday by the Deco Proteste agency, the price of a kilogram of fresh hake increased from 9.43 euros to 11.67 euros. Spaghetti recorded the second highest increase – 15% – and cost €1.27. Among the products that have risen in price the most are canned tuna, both in vegetable and olive oil, which have risen in price by 12 and 10 cents, respectively, to 1.59 euros and 2.03 euros. By segment, the largest growth was recorded in grocery and fish products: the difference over the last week was 17.58 euros and 19.35 euros. To stop rising prices, between April 18, 2023 and January 4, 2024, the government exempted 46 food products from VAT.