Agricultural Output Prices Increase 14.5% Over The Year

The agricultural price index (API) for all outputs increased by 3.2% in March and by 14.5% on last year. The price index for all inputs fell by 0.1% in March but is up 9.7% on last year.

Crop outputs prices increased 2.8% on March and 27% on last year. Potato output prices continue to rise by another 14% in March and are more than twice the price of last year with an increase of 125%. Price rises were offset by a fall in cereals prices of 3.4% in March but over the year they are still 25% higher than last year. Animal and animal products prices increased by 4% in March and are 5.6% up on last year. Animal slaughter prices increased by 7.4% largely due to a 20% rise in sheep prices. They are however still 12% below last year's prices.

Prices for agricultural inputs have not changed much in March. The overall index changed only by a 0.1% fall. Over the year prices generally are up by 12%. The increase is due mainly to a 46% rise in the price of seeds and feed price increases of 16% both sets of prices being affected by the poor cereal harvest of 2012.