Agricultural prices, often seen as a proxy for food prices, jumped by more than 17 per cent in the 12 months to June, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The agency’s agricultural output price index, which monitors trends in prices paid to farmers for their produce, increased by 17.2 per cent in the year, although it was 1.2 per cent down on June.
The surge in output prices was driven mainly by a significant increase in the price of cattle, which was 49.6 per cent ahead of the same time last year.
There were also price increases of 12.4 per cent and 6.2 per cent for sheep and milk respectively.
On the input side, the costs of producing agricultural produce rose by 2 per cent over the year and by 0.6 per cent since June.
The most significant increase in costs for farmers over the year were recorded for fertilisers, which rose 12.5 per cent.
There was also an increase of 4.7 per cent in the cost of veterinary expenses, as well as 2.4 per cent for electricity. On the other hand, the cost of motor fuels fell by 3.6 per cent.
Terms of trade – the net difference in output and input prices – fell by 1.8 per cent in July 2025 when compared with the previous month and was 14.9 per cent higher when compared with July 2024.
Data published by the CSO last week showed headline inflation in the Irish economy rose to 2 per cent in August, up from 1.7 per cent the previous month, on the back of higher food prices and insurance costs.
The Consumer Price Index, the State’s official measure of inflation, showed food prices continued to rise at an elevated rate of 5.1 per cent year on year. That was the highest level of food price inflation recorded since December 2023 when the annual increase was 5.6 per cent.