Farming costs continue to surge with knock-on effects for food prices

Farm input and output prices – key drivers of food price inflation – both rose significantly in the year to January, new data from the Central Statistics Office shows.

The indices monitor trends in prices paid to farmers for their produce and in prices paid by farmers for purchases of goods and services. Both sets of figures feed into the wider picture of rapidly increasing prices across the economy.

The Agricultural Output Price Index – often seen as a proxy for food prices – was up 24.2 per cent in the 12 months to January, while the Agricultural Input Price Index rose by 20.6 per cent over the same period.

The most significant output price increases can be seen in cereal prices (47.5 per cent), pig prices (43.3 per cent), milk prices (29.5 per cent) and cattle prices (19.7 per cent) over the past 12 months.

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Input price increases were recorded in fertiliser prices (29.0 per cent), feed prices (27.7 per cent) and energy prices (24.1 per cent) in January 2023 when compared with January 2022.

The annual terms of trade was up 3.1 per cent when compared with January 2022.

On a monthly basis, the Agricultural Output Price Index decreased by 3.6 per cent when compared with December.

The Agricultural Input Price Index for January was down marginally (0.1 per cent) in comparison with December.

The monthly terms of trade decreased by 3.5 per cent in January 2023 when compared with December 2022.

CSO statistician Donal Kelly said: “The most significant monthly changes in the output price sub-indices were in the price of milk, which fell by 9.8 per cent, while cattle prices were up by 5.2 per cent.

“Overall, the monthly input price sub-indices show little change, though there was a drop of 2 per cent in fertiliser prices.”