There has been a year-on-year decline in the price of dairy products such as cheese and butter, according to statistics released by Eurostat.

The survey, conducted across 27 European countries, saw cheese prices drop 2.3% year-on-year (June 2025 to June 2026).

The category of “butter and other oils and fats derived from milk” saw an even steeper decline of 16.6% for the same period.

Eurostat released these figures on Thursday (August 13).

The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) measures price changes of  various consumer goods and services over time (inflation).

This dataset is compiled according to the European Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose (ECOICOP).

Ireland

This price decline for dairy products is consistent with figures for Ireland.

Figures also published Thursday (August 13) show that average prices of butter and milk decreased in July 2026.

The latest report from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed details of the latest national average prices for staple items.

The national average price of 2L of full fat milk was down by 9c in the year to July, while a pound of butter fell by 55c, and the average price of Irish cheddar cheese decreased by 9c/kg.

The CSO also recently published the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for July 2026.

The CPI rose by 3.4% between July 2025 and July 2026. 

This 3.4% increase was at the same level as the year-on-year inflation that was recorded in June this year.

Excluding energy and unprocessed food, the CPI increased by 3.2% for the 12 months to July.

Consumer prices rose by 0.1% between June and July this year.

Eurostat

Eurostat produces European statistics to support EU policy development and monitoring by providing the data that users need.

The body works closely with EU countries to define, develop, test, and agree on common methodologies to ensure data comparability across the EU. 

Data collection and validation is mostly carried out by national statistical authorities in accordance with EU regulations and standards.