A sirloin steak which could, on average, be €16.54 in 2023 would have cost the equivalent of €2.05 when Ireland joined the EU.
That is according to a new Central Statistics Office (CSO) report published today (Tuesday, October 17) to mark 50 years of Ireland and the EU.
The report, which charts some of the changes in Ireland’s economic and social history, also highlights that in 1973, 24% of people were employed in agriculture.
That figure today, according to the CSO is just 4%.
In the report the national statistical office examined a number of key changes in Ireland’s farming landscape to mark 50 years of Ireland in the EU.
One key trend identified by the CSO is that there have been some significant changes in the area of wheat, oats, and potatoes sown.
According to the new report, in 1973 the area sown for wheat, oats and barley stood at 58,000ha 50,000ha and 243,000ha respectively.
But by 2022, the area sown for wheat, oats, and barley stood at 67,200ha, 28,200ha and 190,000ha.
One other major change has also been in the total area of potatoes sown – in 1973 this covered 48,000ha, but by 2022 the area of potatoes sown was down to 8,500ha.
The CSO also identified that in 1973 cattle numbers were 7.1 million and in 2022 had grown to 7.4 million.
There has also been an increase in the number of sheep which stood at 4.2 million in 1972 and then rose to six million in 2022.
Meanwhile the number of sheep in the state has also risen from 750,000 in 1972 to 1.6 million in 2022.
The latest CSO report also looked a changing consumer prices and how the average basket of goods has changed in the 50 years since 1973.
According to the CSO when Ireland joined the EU, cabbage would typically have been included in a “basket of goods” but it has now been replaced with mushrooms and broccoli.
Meanwhile although full-fat milk has always been part of the basket of goods, a more recent addition has also been low-fat milk.