EU’s agricultural prices ease towards pre-war levels in Q1, Eurostat says

THE prices of goods consumed by the agriculture sector fell by 11 per cent in the European Union during the first quarter, with most countries recording lower costs as volatility related to the war in Ukraine quells, the EU’s statistics office said on Wednesday (Jun 26).

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, both major agricultural exporters, disrupted shipments of fertilisers and edible oils from the Black Sea region and sent prices of wheat, soy and corn to near record highs in 2022.

But the recent declines in agricultural output and input costs show a return to calmer pre-disruption levels, Eurostat said.

The decline in input costs included a 31 per cent drop for fertiliser and soil improvers, 16 per cent for animal feeds, and 12 per cent for energy and lubricants, compared to a year earlier, it said.

Out of 25 EU member states with available data, Portugal was the only one where input prices rose by 2 per cent, while the Netherlands, Ireland, Hungary and Croatia recorded biggest drops of between 17 per cent and 20 per cent, the data showed.

Twenty countries also recorded lower output prices, or prices of agricultural goods sold, which dropped by 6 per cent on average, with a 28 per cent drop in the price of cereals, Eurostat said.

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Output prices rose in five Southern European countries, led by a 20 per cent increase in Greece.

An expected impact from unfavourable weather conditions on harvested volumes pushed prices of potatoes up by 22 per cent and those of fresh fruit by 20 per cent, the statistics office said. REUTERS