The strain on global energy and fuel supplies provoked by US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz has shown small signs of easing within the Irish economy.
Wholesale electricity prices fell by 6.2 per cent in June compared to the previous month, although that price still sits 42.2 per cent higher than June last year, according to figures released today by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
Wholesale electricity prices refer to the cost energy retailers – such as Electric Ireland, Bord Gáis Energy, SSE Airtricity and others – pay to generators before selling the electricity to business and households.
The increase in price from last year can largely be attributed to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway separating the Gulf from the Indian Ocean through which around 20 million barrels of crude oils and petroleum travelled every day before renewed conflict erupted.
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Its closure in March resulted in a substantial increase in global crude oil prices due to the immediate loss of supply coming from the Arab world.
The slight dip in the overall rise of wholesale electricity prices last month perils in comparison to the shock to the system felt in August 2022, when it peaked by 65 per cent following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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The CSO found all energy fuel prices fell by 9 per cent from May to June, yet in a similar fashion to electricity prices, they were well above last year’s price point, at 24.5 per cent higher.
Last month’s decrease was largely driven by drops of 10.2 per cent in fuel oil prices and 8.2 per cent in gas oil prices, the national statistics agency said.
The wholesale price index, released monthly by the CSO, records the prices that Irish businesses pay for items such as energy, raw materials and construction products. It is seen as a key indicator of the impact that inflation has on business.
Deirdre Toher, a statistician in the CSO’s prices division, said “wholesale price inflation showed a decrease in June 2026 with a 0.2 per cent decline in the overall producer price index for manufacturing industries in the month.”
“The price index for export sales was down by 0.2 per cent since May 2026, while the index for domestic sales was up by 0.2% in the month,” she said.
Other producer prices that saw notable annual changes included a 8.6 per cent increase in fish products, an 11.9 per cent increase in chemical products and a 4.1 per cent increase in paper and its raw material pulp.
