Despite the significant price increases on store shelves during the inflation shock of 2022 and 2023, profitability in the food industry has not increased, according to an analysis by Statistics Sweden (SCB).
Within daily goods retail – i.e., the retail sector – profitability has decreased since 2021.
"Although food prices rose sharply in 2022, the profitability of the food industry decreased the same year. The decline continued in 2023 and the first half of 2024," says Daniel Lennartsson, statistician at SCB, in a press release.
Wholesale is the only sector that increased profitability, measured as operating margin in percent, during the years 2022-2023, but it is pointing downward during the first half of 2024.
Total operating margin for the food industry decreased to 2.2 percent on average in 2022, down from 2.4 percent during the years 2012-2021. The decline continued to 2.0 percent in 2023 and was down to 1.1 percent in the first half of this year, according to SCB.
