Prices received by Irish manufacturers bounced back last year

CSO data also shows wholesale electricity prices increased by 93.2% in December compared with November

The overall index for the food, beverages and tobacco sector increased by 8.4 per cent in 2022.
The overall index for the food, beverages and tobacco sector increased by 8.4 per cent in 2022.

Overall prices received by Irish manufacturers increased by 5.1 per cent in 2022, bouncing back from a decrease of 5.3 per cent in 2021, new data from the Central Statistics Office shows.

The price index for goods sold on the home market increased by 8.5 per cent in 2022, having increased by 2.2 per cent in 2021.

The price index for exported goods increased by 4.9 per cent in 2022 following a decrease of 5.5 per cent in the previous year.

Producer prices were affected by a number of factors during 2022 including fluctuations in the euro exchange rate and market supply and demand.

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Other global factors including the war in Ukraine and Covid-19 also had a major effect on market supply and demand during the year.

The overall index for the food, beverages and tobacco sector increased by 8.4 per cent in 2022 compared with an increase of 0.2 per cent in 2021. The index for food products increased by 8.7 per cent in 2022 while beverages increased by 6.3 per cent.

Within the food sector, prices increased for dairy products (44.4 per cent), meat and meat products (12.2 per cent), fish, crustaceans and molluscs (12.2 per cent), as well as grain mill and starch products and prepared animal feeds (11.2 per cent).

The CSO data also shows wholesale electricity prices increased by 93.2 per cent in December compared with the previous month and 10.4 per cent compared with the same month a year earlier.

The wholesale price index shows domestic producer prices for manufactured goods were on average 8.9 per cent higher in December compared with a year earlier, while producer prices for exported goods increased by 2.3 per cent.

Producer prices for food products rose by 10.4 per cent in the 12 months to December, while the food products, beverages and tobacco index saw an increase of 10.3 per cent.

Some of the most notable changes in producer prices for food products over the 12 months to December were dairy products (39.5 per cent), fruit and vegetables (19.1 per cent), grain milling, starches and animal feeds (14.6 per cent) and fish and fish products (13.7 per cent).

The most notable changes in other producer prices in the year were wood and wood products (25.4 per cent), other non-metallic mineral products, such as glass, ceramics, cement, concrete and stone, (22.4 per cent), mining and quarrying (11.4 per cent) and beverages (11 per cent).

Wholesale prices for construction products increased by 0.1 per cent in the month and by 16.2 per cent in the 12 months since December 2021.

The most notable annual increases in construction products were in structural steel and fabricated metal which rose 57.1 per cent; plaster which rose 36.2 per cent; and cement which rose 29.2 per cent.

The building and construction index, which covers materials and wages, showed no change in the month and rose by 9.9 per cent in the 12 months to December.

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson is an Irish Times reporter