Prices for meat will continue to grow

According to her, the most expensive beef went up last year. Retail prices for it from December 2016 to December 2017 increased on average in Ukraine by 34.8-38.5%. If at the end of 2016 per kilogram of the hip of beef on average should pay 68.40 UAH, in December 2017 it was 92.18 UAH/kg. Retail prices for beef without bone for the year increased from 85.02 UAH/kg to 117.77 UAH/kg in December 2017.

Pork went up by 38.3-46.1% last year. Retail price of pork bone (thigh cut) increased from 67.26 UAH/kg in December 2016 to 93.00 UAH/kg in December 2017. For the same period, pork without bone has risen in price from 77.64 UAH/kg to 113.46 UAH/kg, the expert said.

The retail price for poultry meat (carcass) increased by 30.4% less in the last year. If in December 2016 it was 41.34 UAH/kg, then in December 2017 it increased to 53.91 UAH/kg.

According to scientists of the Institute of Agrarian Economics, the trend of rising prices for meat will continue in 2018.
In particular, considering the planned increase by the government from the second quarter of this year of the minimum wage level to 4,200 UAH, there is a threat of a repeat of the situation in 2017, said Svitlana Pashko.

Then, in conditions of high food demand, the growth rates of retail meat prices were close to the growth rates of average wages of citizens, the expert recalled. In particular, last year the retail price for meat increased by an average of 30.4-46.1%. At the same time, the average salary from January to November 2017 increased from 6008 UAH to 7479 UAH, or 24.5%.

The growth of prices for meat during 2018 can also contribute to other factors. Among them, in particular, the reduction in the number of cattle and pigs due to rising prices for feed and frequent outbreaks of the African swine fever virus; increasing the cost of utilities, veterinary drugs, fuels and lubricants; raising the level of the minimum wage and indexing pensions of citizens; seasonal increase in domestic demand for meat and growth in its exports; as well as depreciation of the national currency against the dollar and the euro, summarized Svitlana Pashko.