The national average price for two litres of milk fell by eight cents in Ireland over the 12 months to December 2023, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said today (Tuesday, January 16).
The price of a pound of butter also dropped by nine cent but consumers paid 21 cent more for cheddar cheese last month than they would have done 12 months earlier.
According to the CSO its latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) shows that prices for consumer goods and services in December 2023 rose by 4.6% on average when compared with December 2022.
Anthony Dawson, statistician in the CSO prices division, said: “There were price increases in December 2023 for a 2.5kg bag of potatoes (36c) and Irish cheddar cheese per kg (21c), while there were decreases in the price of a pound of butter (9c) and two litres of full fat milk (8c) when compared with December 2022.”
Meanwhile the CSO Agricultural Input Price Index published yesterday (Monday, January 15) also showed that the most significant output price decreases in the 12 months to November 2023 were in milk, which fell by 36.8% and cereals which also declined by 31.6%.
The CSO Consumer Price Index (CPI) is designed to measure the change in the average level of prices – inclusive of all indirect taxes – paid for consumer goods and services.
It is based on 50,000 prices collected for a “representative basket” made up of 615 item headings in a fixed panel of retail and service outlets throughout the country.
According to the CSO consumer prices in December 2023 rose by 0.5% in the month.
“During December 2022, prices fell by 0.2% in the month.
“In December 2023, the most significant monthly price changes were increases in recreation and culture (2.5%) and furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (1.4%). Recreation and culture rose mainly due to higher prices for package holidays,” the CSO stated.