Cereal prices rise by almost half in just one year, CSO figures show

Cereal prices have surged by 47.5 per cent in the last year, with agricultural price indices also showing significant growth in the price of pigs (up 32.2 per cent) and eggs (up 17.6 per cent).

Agricultural price indices for May 2023, published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Tuesday, show that while some agricultural outputs saw significant price increases, in general prices of farm outputs have fallen by 4.7 per cent in the year to May 2023.

The prices of agricultural inputs have fallen by 6.5 per cent over the same period.

The most significant annual fall in input prices was in fertiliser prices, which fell by 35.6 per cent, and motor fuel prices, which tumbled by 25.3 per cent. At the same time, electricity prices increased by 34.6 per cent.

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Between April 2023 and May 2023, the agricultural output price index rose marginally by 0.1 per cent, while the price of agricultural inputs fell by 3.4 per cent in the same month.

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Dr Grzegorz Głaczyński, a statistician in the agriculture division of the CSO, noted that the “most noticeable” monthly changes in output prices were recorded in the price of milk, which dropped by 0.9 per cent, while crop output rose by 2.3 per cent.

“The monthly input price sub-indices showed declines of 11.3 per cent in fertiliser prices and 4.5 per cent in energy, while plant protection products went up by 6.9 per cent,” he said.

The trade-of-terms index, which is the output price index expressed as a percentage of the input price index, increased by 1.9 per cent when compared to May 2022, and was up 3.6 per cent in May 2023 when compared to the previous month.