Fertiliser prices increased by almost 90% in December 2021 compared with same month in the previous year, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The CSO has today (Tuesday, February 15, 2022) released its Agricultural Price Indices for both 2021 and the month of December.
The agricultural output price indices measure trends in the price of produce sold by farmers, while input price indices show trends in the prices paid by farmers for goods and services.
In 2021, the output index increased by 11.5% compared to the previous year, while the input price index rose by 9.2%.
On a monthly basis, the output price index increased by 3.9% in December 2021 compared with November 2021 and the input price index increased by 3.7%.
CSO indices
Commenting on the release, Anthony Dawson, CSO statistician, said: “The most significant change is in the price of fertilisers where the price index is up 86.9% in the month of December 2021 when compared with the monthly price in December 2020.”
In that timeframe, the CSO said that straight fertilisers increased in price by 115.3% and compound fertiliser cost jumped by 78%.
Overall, when 2021 is compared with 2020, the data shows that fertiliser prices increased by 25% in a year. Straight fertilisers were up by 32.2% and compounds rose by 23.1%.
During 2021, energy prices rose by 15.2% including an almost 17% jump in motor fuels.
Overall, there was a 10% increase in feed prices. Cattle fed, was up 12%, calf feed rose 10% and pig feed went up nearly 9%.
Turning to the output index for 2021, the CSO said that animal output was up nearly 12% and crop output jumped 8.5% compared to 2020.
The data shows that a 16.3% increase in milk price was a driving factor in the 11.5% rise in the output index last year.
In animal outputs, pig prices dropped 9.6% last year compared to 2020 but sheep prices jumped by nearly 22%. Cattle prices were up 13% and calves increased by 20.6%.
During 2021, the cereal price was up by 18%, potatoes rose by 4.2%, eggs increased by 4.4% and wool price rose 5%.