Monthly factory gate prices decrease by 14.5% in December

Monthly factory gate prices decreased by 14.5 per cent in December compared with the same month last year, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office.

The latest wholesale price index shows prices declined by 4.1 per cent compared with November. This compares to an increase of 0.1 per cent for December of last year.

In the month, the price index for export sales decreased by 4.2 per cent, while the index for home sales increased 0.1 per cent.

Decrease

In the year there was a decrease of 14.9 per cent in the price index for export sales and a decrease of 1.4 per cent in respect of the price index for home sales.

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Overall prices received by Irish producers decreased by 8.7 per cent in 2020 following on from a decrease of 0.9 per cent in 2019.

The price index for goods sold on the home market decreased by 1.4 per cent in 2020, having increased by 2.3 per cent in 2019.

The price index for exported goods decreased by 9 per cent in 2020 following a decrease of 1.1 per cent in the previous year.

The CSO said producer prices were affected by a number of factors during 2020 including fluctuations in the Euro exchange rate and market demand.

Contribution

Exchange rates made a significant contribution to price changes during 2020. Other global factors also had a major effect on market demand during the year.

The overall index for the food, beverages and tobacco sector decreased by 1.5 per cent in 2020 compared with an increase of 3.5 per cent in 2019. The index for food products decreased by 1.9 per cent in 2020 while beverages increased by 2.3 per cent.

Each of the categories within food products saw a decrease this year, with the largest decreases in dairy products (-2.7 per cent), meat and meat products (-1.8 per cent), other food products (-1.8 per cent) and fish and fish products (-1.7 per cent).