Our annual analysis of price changes for products in the so-called “Easter basket” has been featured in online media outlets such as Business Insider and Forsal.pl
According to CASE Online CPI data, during this year’s Easter holidays, we will pay significantly more for selected food products than last year. This substantial increase is primarily due to the high price of dark chocolate. If we were to exclude it from our basket, the price increase would be significantly lower, at 1.8%. This demonstrates how strongly a single product, whose price has been rising particularly rapidly in recent times, can influence the overall result. The results presented in the basket should therefore be interpreted as a measure of price changes for selected holiday products, and not as a direct equivalent of the NBP’s core inflation or the consumer inflation reported by the Statistics Poland (GUS).
According to journalists, based on our calculations prepared by Andrzej Robaszewski and Jan Sadowski, the following items have seen the sharpest price increases over the past 12 months (year-over-year as of March 16, 2026): dark chocolate +85.7%, M-grade eggs +31.1%, apple juice +23.2%, oranges +21.7%, potatoes +19.6%, milk chocolate +16.6%, orange juice +13.2%.
The current increases were driven not only by a seasonal rise in demand ahead of Easter but also by uncertainty in global markets caused by the conflict in the Middle East. Our economists emphasize, however, that the impact of the conflict in the Middle East on food prices is currently mainly indirect and relates to energy and transportation costs, fertilizer prices, and imported raw materials. Domestic products, such as eggs, dairy, and bread, remain less susceptible to global turmoil. However, for imported products, cost pressures may persist and vary by category.
