Milk prices dropped 23.1% in the year to April 2026, new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show.

In the 12 months to April 2026, the agricultural output price index decreased by 14.6% while the agricultural input price index rose by 8.1%.

The input price index for April 2026 increased by 2.4% in the month since March 2026 while the output price index rose slightly by 0.5%.

The most significant output price reductions in the 12 months to April 2026 were in milk (-23.1%), pigs (-16.4%), and cattle (-10.9%).

Poultry and sheep however were up by 5.6% and 4.5% respectively.

Inputs

Cian O'Riordan, statistician in the CSO's agriculture division, said: "The agricultural input price index increased by 2.4% in April 2026 when compared with March 2026.

"This was driven largely by an increase in the motor fuels index (+5.4%) and fertilisers (+6.2%)."

O'Riordan said that compared with April 2025, the output price index decreased by 14.6% while the input price index rose by 8.1%.

"The largest changes in input price indices were in motor fuels (+43.3%) and fertilisers (+21.2%)," he added.

Terms of trade fell by 1.8% in April 2026 when compared with March 2026 and was 21.1% lower when compared with April 2025.

Domestic milk intake down

Domestic milk intake by milk processors and co-ops was down 37.1 million litres in April 2026 compared to April 2025.

Milk intake was estimated at 1.037 billion litres in April 2026, a decrease of 37.1 million litres (-3.5%) when compared with the same month last year, the CSO said.

However, the figure for April 2026 is up 85.4 million litres (+9%) when compared with the same month in 2024.