Shows that prices do affect consumption, especially for people on low incomes.

If Big Macs are representative of fast food, this bodes ill for efforts to stem the widespread rise in people becoming overweight and obese in emerging economies. What is clear, however, is that in most emerging economies for which data exists, the Big Mac has become cheaper relative to other foods since the early 1990s – especially compared to fruit and vegetables. It’s all the more puzzling that the cost of a burger should have risen by so much more. Prices of most foods have risen in real terms in Brazil since the 1990s, as documented in our It’s not clear why Brazil – with its rising burger prices – is an exception. Why the sharp drop in price? This requires further study, but the working hypothesis is that fast foodsīecame cheaper thanks to improvements in logistics allowing the ingredients to be sourced, shipped and prepared at a lower cost than in the past. For example, in South Korea the price of a Big Mac in 2013 was less than half the 1989 cost.

This shows similar trends in relative prices, only in some cases with even greater movements. We can also compare the price of a Big Mac to other foods (orange bars). In Korea, 2013 prices were more than a third below their 1989 levels. Source : Big Mac prices from The Economist, deflated by Food Consumer Price Indices from OECDstat and GDP deflators from World Development Indicators, World BankĬomparing the price in 2013 to the earliest observations – between 19 – in five emerging economies (and recently-emerged South Korea) shows that the Big Mac has become cheaper in all countries – except Brazil (grey bars). So, what do they tell us about the price of a Big Mac in Brazil or South Korea?Ĭhange in price of Big Mac, net of inflation and relative to other foods, 1989/96 to 2013, selected emerging economies Has added more countries to the Big Mac price series, including several emerging economies. Any significant differences in prices from one country to the next would, therefore, reveal exchange rates over- or under-valued in local currencies. , devised in 1986 as a rough and ready guide to comparing exchange rates.Īrgued that across high-income countries, the price of a

You might assume these became cheaper too. While fruits and vegetables became pricier compared to other foods, net of inflation, fat or sugar-heavy foods became cheaper – or at least, rose in price at a slower pace.īut our report didn’t look into a specific type of unhealthy meal: fast foods. ’, a report showing that healthy foods have become more expensive in emerging economies such as Brazil, Mexico, China and South Korea since 1990 – just as they have in the US and the UK.

Cost of a big mac in brazil