One in ten people in the country cannot afford meat, poultry or fish every day, EU statistics have shown
© Getty Images / Tom Werner
More Germans did not have enough money for meals comprising meat, fish, poultry or a vegetarian equivalent every day in 2022, according to the latest data tracked by EU statistical office Eurostat.
The new figures, released by German corporate newsroom Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland on Monday, demonstrated a year-on-year increase of 0.9% to 11.4%, meaning that nearly 10 million people in the most populous EU nation often lacked proper meals. That shocking number rises to 19.3%, when it comes to single parents, marking a solid rise of 2.6% compared to the previous year.
The statistics were requested by ‘The Left’ party. Commenting on the figures, the party’s leader in parliament, Dietmar Bartsch, called for a temporary suspension of sales tax on essential food items and for the state to control supermarket pricing.
“The supermarket has become a rip-off stronghold,” Bartsch said as cited by DW. “The higher the price, the higher the quota of pasta with ketchup.”
READ MORE: German consumers hit by runaway prices
He added that children were among the particularly vulnerable groups exposed to the problem, and demanded the introduction of a guaranteed basic child allowance.
Germany, along with a number of EU member states, has been struggling with soaring consumer prices, causing people to cut back on expenses. In June, inflation in the Eurozone’s leading economy hit 6.4% in annual terms.
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