Producer prices for food products fell by 6.6% in the 12 months to April 2024, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The Wholesale Price Index for April 2024, published today (Wednesday, May 22), shows that producer prices for dairy products fell by 22% in the period.
Fish and fish products dropped 7%, while grain milling, starches and animal feeds were down 6%.
The data shows vegetable and animal oils and fats decreased by 4.5% and other food product prices were back by 7%.
Producer prices for meat and meat products remained relatively stable when April 2024 is compared to the same month in the previous year.
Deirdre Toher, statistician in the CSO prices division, noted that producer prices for food products rose by 0.5% when compared to March, with dairy products dropping 0.4% in the month.
CSO
The CSO data also shows that wholesale electricity prices rose by 2% in April 2024 when compared to the previous month.
However, the prices were 29.5% lower than April 2023, down 59% since April 2022 and have fallen 77% when compared to the peak that occurred during August 2022.
The most notable changes in other producer prices in the year to April 2024 were: chemicals and chemical products (+23%), beverages (+9%), and wood and wood Products (-9.3%).
Wholesale prices for construction products were up by 0.4% in the month to April 2024 but were down by 1.4% in the 12 months since April 2023.
The CSO said that wholesale price inflation showed an increase in April 2024 with a rise of 0.8% in the overall Producer Price Index for manufacturing industries in the month.
It said that producer prices for products sold on the domestic market were 2.2% lower compared with April 2023.
In the year, export producer prices rose by 4.2% while overall producer prices were up by 3.8%.