Bread prices in the European Union rose by almost a fifth in August, Reuters reported.

Global wheat prices have risen since February after a war in Ukraine halted grain exports from the Black Sea for months and limited fertilizer shipments as Russian producers lost access to Baltic Sea ports they used to ship ammonia, a key ingredient in nitrate fertilizers.

The average price of bread in the EU in August was 18 percent higher than a year earlier, Eurostat data showed, the highest since December 2017.

According to Eurostat data, the average price of bread rose 3% year-over-year in August 2021.

Hungary and Lithuania had the highest annual changes in the average price of bread in August, with increases of 66% and 33%, respectively.

The countries with the lowest average increase were France (8%), as well as the Netherlands and Luxembourg, where the increase was 10% .

Bread prices in the EU have risen steadily this year, up from an average of 8.3% in February.

Combined bread and cereal prices rose 16.6% in August, the highest since at least January 1997. Eurostat confirmed earlier that inflation in the eurozone hit a record 9.1% in August, driven by soaring energy and food prices.