04 Jul The price of food and drinks, slightly higher in the Canary Islands than in the rest of Spain
By Instituto Canario de Estadística, (ISTAC), del Gobierno de Canarias This operation, for which a massive analysis of online sales prices has been carried out, covers
an important gap in statistical information of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands, upon obtaining
an indicator of the difference in levels of these prices between the archipelago and the rest of the country.
This group of products represents approximately 20,2% in the average annual expenditure of an average family
in the Canary Islands and a 19% for the national total.
Of the more than 300 products included in the sample, food was a 1,03% more expensive in
Canary Islands than in the rest of the country in 2022, and non-alcoholic beverages, a 0,86%; while the
alcoholic beverages were a 2,70% cheaper.
Comparison without value added taxes
However, if the price data is analyzed by eliminating the General Indirect Tax
Canary (IGIC) for the Canary Islands and the Value Added Tax (IVA) for the rest of Spain, se
notes that the price of food and drinks on the islands is a 7,55% higher than the rest
of the country.
In the same way, if we eliminate the IGIC and VAT for the products included in the sample, los
foods were a 7,04% more expensive in the Canary Islands than in the rest of the country, the drinks don't
alcoholic, a 12,71%; and alcoholic beverages were a 8,72% masks.
This studio offers products that are subject to different tax rates, both IGIC and VAT.
Así, de los 314 products considered, for the year 2022, 134 they have type 0% in the IGIC, 67 of these
with type 4% VAT and others 67 with type 10% VAT. Un total de 146 products are taxed with the
3% by IGIC, 136 al 10% VAT and 10 al 21%. With the type of 7% of IGIC are contemplated 24 products,
all at 21% del IVA. Finally, los 10 Remaining products are subject to 15% from IGIC and 21% de
IVA.
The comparative study analyzes the annual evolution of prices since 2013 hasta 2022 for chains
of supermarkets that have offered online purchases of their products through their websites.
Throughout those nine years, The statistical operation observes that the difference in prices between
both areas has been progressively reduced, especially from 2016. However, yes
They observe prices without the application of VAT and IGIC, this evolution is different, since they have been
produced slight increases throughout these years, except in 2022.
Massive data analysis
For this study, The selected products have been accessed through the massive analysis of the
online sales prices. This use of massive databases ( big data ) as source
alternative and complementary to the traditional obtaining of information reduces costs, taking into account
take into account the enormous effort that would be involved in obtaining a similar amount of information by collecting the
data on site .
These products are part of the first two groups of the classification of goods and services.
United Nations ECOICOP: food and non-alcoholic beverages, and alcoholic beverages and tobacco.
However, the study does not include tobacco, since Spanish legislation prohibits its sale in
line; and fresh meats, since difficulties were detected in finding a minimum amount of
articles suitable for price comparison.
For each product, different types of items are detailed, as they are presented for sale in
supermarkets, so that, por ejemplo, en 2022 the total number of items that have entered the
study amounts to approximately 6.500. A su vez, For each item, prices are available in each
zip code and for each supermarket chain, so that the total volume of data for 2022
alcanzó los 235 millions of records.
The prices captured in this statistic using the web scraping technique have been commercialized
by the Alcampo supermarket chains, Caprabo, Carrefour, conditions, The English Court, THERE,
buy it, Hypercor, Hiperdino, Mercadona and Tutrébol.
To select the type of products included in the analysis, ISTAC took as reference the
list of products used by the European Statistical Office (Eurostat) and the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development (OCDE) for the calculation of Power Parities
Purchasing (PPA) by country internationally. He also resorted to the Methodology for
calculation of Purchasing Power Parities of the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
Improved comparison between islands
Desde 2003, ISTAC has another price comparison operation, in this case, islanders, a
through the operation of Purchasing Power Parities in the Canary Islands, which develops through
surveys.
With the incorporation of this new operation that is presented today, which is developed with techniques of
massive data analysis, ISTAC is studying updating the insular methodology to
generate a mixed methodology, that incorporates massive data analysis and maintains surveys
for areas and establishments that do not offer their product sales online.
Source:: Noticias Económicas de Canarias
