Wholesale electricity prices down 26.9% in September on previous month

CSO data shows drop in cost of electricity compared to August, but prices still up 44.9% on last year

The overall energy products index has fallen by 24.4 per cent since August. Producer prices for food products rose by 8.9 per cent in the 12 months to September, while the food products, beverages and tobacco index also saw an increase of 8.9 per cent.
The overall energy products index has fallen by 24.4 per cent since August. Producer prices for food products rose by 8.9 per cent in the 12 months to September, while the food products, beverages and tobacco index also saw an increase of 8.9 per cent.

Wholesale electricity prices came down by 26.9 per cent in September compared to August, new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows.

However, the price of electricity was still 44.9 per cent higher than in September 2021. The overall energy products index decreased by 24.4 per cent since August but increased by 42.7 per cent when compared with September last year.

The CSO’s wholesale price index also shows that domestic producer prices for manufactured goods were on average 10.4 per cent higher in September 2022 compared with a year earlier, while producer prices for exported goods increased by 5.9 per cent.

Food inflation

Producer prices for food products rose by 8.9 per cent in the 12 months to September, while the food products, beverages and tobacco index also saw an increase of 8.9 per cent.

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Some of the most notable changes in producer prices for food products over the 12 months to September were dairy products (53.2 per cent), fish and fish products (21.1 per cent), grain milling, starches and animal feeds (14.5 per cent), as well as meat (8.3 per cent).

The most notable increases in other producer prices in the year were wood (32.4 per cent), other non-metallic mineral products (such as glass, ceramics, cement, concrete and stone) (21.5 per cent), basic metals (18.2 per cent) and mining and quarrying (15.2 per cent).

Wholesale prices for construction products dropped by 0.6 per cent in the month but rose by 16.6 per cent in the 12 months since September 2021.

Manufacturing prices

CSO statistician Jillian Delaney said: “Producer prices in several food categories were significantly higher in September compared with the same month last year. Outputs from Irish manufacturers also increased in price in several other categories.

“Manufacturing factory gate prices rose by 6.1 per cent in the 12 months to September, compared with an increase of 4.7 per cent in the 12 months to August. There was an increase in manufacturing factory gate prices of 1.4 per cent between August and September, compared with no change for the same period last year.”

She added there was a rise of 10.4 per cent in the price index for home sales in the 12 months to September, and an increase of 5.9 per cent in the price index for export sales, which can be influenced by currency fluctuations.

“In the month, the price index for export sales was up 1.4 per cent, while the index for home sales was up by 0.3 per cent,” she said. “The All Materials Index for construction products fell by 0.6 per cent in the month but has increased by 16.6 per cent in the year.”

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson is an Irish Times reporter