Back to Top

 Skip navigation

Agriculture Accounts & Prices

13.0%
Increase in intermediate consumption in 2018

Output, Input & Income in Agriculture provides estimates of major items of agricultural accounts. The estimates are based on data from a combination of sources including administrative data, industry sources and surveys conducted by CSO and Teagasc.

The Agricultural Price Indices comprise of the index of producer prices of agricultural products (the Output Price Index) and the index of purchase prices of the means of agricultural production (the Input Price Index). The Output Price Index is based on the sales of agricultural products and the Input Price Index is based on the purchases of the means of agricultural production by agricultural producers. 

This chapter also presents estimates of Agricultural Land Prices for both arable land and permanent grassland per acre for the first time.

Open in Excel:
X-axis label201320142015201620172018
Goods Output7.346267985534886.96888773451067.139121840264187.065025889405728.085626199956518.18175021584591
Intermediate Consumption5.669995791063325.119842773366994.932568718395015.083868881492475.310957683331336.00099591603176
Net Subsidies1.517142314690931.492089140268461.326972194124551.600798929288731.644904205822271.6901693739325
Operating Surplus2.355862086949462.441189351067022.587213701125642.628030290326273.425231760242162.84922535236466
24.1 Output, input and income in agriculture

Agricultural goods output at producer prices in 2018 amounted to €8,182m, an increase of €96m (+1.2%) on the 2017 figure. This growth in output values was due to a rise of €265.6m (+14.6%) in the value of crops to reach €2,090.2m. However, the overall values of livestock and livestock products decreased by 4.0% and 0.9% respectively. The value of cattle fell by €101.0m (-4.3%) from €2,362.1m in 2017 to €2,261.1m in 2018. The value of pig output decreased by €58.1m (-11.3%) from €516.7m to €458.6m. Milk output decreased from €2,594.1m to €2.555.4m, a fall of €38.7m (-1.5%).

Despite the overall growth in the value of agricultural goods output at producer prices, the final estimate of operating surplus in agriculture in 2018 shows an annual decrease of €576m (-16.8%), down from €3,425.2m in 2017 to €2,849.2m in 2018. The main reason for this change was an increase of €690.0m (+13.0%) in intermediate consumption. The main items giving rise to this increase in intermediate consumption are feeding stuffs and fertilisers, which increased by €355.9m (+26.9%) and €69.2m (+13.5%) respectively.

Interactive table: StatBank link

Link to release: Output, Input and Income in Agriculture

Open in Excel:

The Regional Accounts for Agriculture provides a regional breakdown of figures already published at State level in the final estimate of the Output, Input and Income in Agriculture. They are prepared using similar methodology and definitions of the accounts items.

The NUTS 2 and NUTS 3 regional classifications are based on the common classification of territorial units for statistics established by the Commission Regulation (EU) No 2066 of 2016 (NUTS - Nomenclature of Territorial Units).

15.0%
Decrease in value of pigs in the Northern and Western Region
Table 24.2 Regional Agricultural Accounts at NUTS 2 level

31.9%
Increase in the cost of feedingstuffs in the Mid-West region
Table 24.3 Regional Agricultural Accounts at NUTS 3 level

Regional Agricultural Accounts at NUTS 3 level 2018

Border

Livestock accounted for 50.4% of the Border region’s agricultural output. Its pig and sheep output represented almost a quarter of the State’s pig and sheep production at 22.7% and 23.5% respectively. Approximately 76.4% of the region’s agricultural output was needed to cover intermediate consumption costs. Net subsidies equated to 77.1% of the region’s operating surplus. Its operating surplus decreased by 17.4% from the previous year.

West

The West has the highest dependency of all regions on livestock, with 55.8% of its agricultural output derived from livestock. It produced 27.4% of the State’s sheep output and had the lowest dependency of all regions on dairying, with just 12.6% of its agricultural output coming from milk production. To cover the costs of intermediate consumption, 77.5% of the region’s agricultural output was required. Net subsidies represented 87.9% of the region’s operating surplus. The annual change in operating surplus for the region was a fall of 15.2%.

Mid-West

Approximately one fifth of the State’s cattle (19.2%) and milk production (21.1%) was produced in the Mid-West. Livestock production accounted for 39.7% of the region’s agricultural output with milk contributing a further 36.6%. It produced 15.5% of the State’s pig output. The costs associated with intermediate consumption represented 70.8% of the region’s agricultural output. Net subsidies equalled 52.7% of the region’s operating surplus. Its operating surplus fell by 19.3% from the previous year.

South-East

Just under a third (33.0%) of the region’s agricultural output came from livestock with milk and crop production contributing a further 34.3% and 27.8% respectively. Over a quarter (26.7%) of the State’s cereal output and 15.6% of the State’s pig output was produced in the South-East. To cover the costs of intermediate consumption, 65.1% of the region’s agricultural output was required. Net subsidies represented 45.9% of the region’s operating surplus. Compared to other regions, the South-East experienced the second lowest fall in operating surplus, which decreased by 13.1% from the previous year.

South-West

The South-West had the highest dependency on dairying, with 45.8% of the region’s agricultural output coming from milk. The region was responsible for almost a third (32.7%) of the State’s milk production. It also has a high concentration of pig production, with almost one fifth (19.1%) of the State’s pig output produced there.  Approximately 65% of the region’s agricultural output was required to cover the costs of intermediate consumption. The South-West had the lowest net subsidies to operating surplus ratio of all regions at 43.7%. Its operating surplus decreased by 20.2% from the previous year, the second highest decline of all regions.

Dublin & Mid-East

Fifteen percent of the State’s sheep output and 10.4% of its cattle output was produced in the Dublin & Mid-East region. Over a third (35.3%) of the region’s agricultural output derived from livestock with a further 19.0% coming from milk production. Almost a quarter (22.7%) of the State’s crop output was produced in the Dublin & Mid-East region with crops accounting for 39.8% of the region’s agricultural output. This region produced over a third (36.4%) of Ireland’s cereal output. Over 61.3% of the region’s agricultural output was required to cover the costs of intermediate consumption. Net subsidies represented 45.6% of the region’s operating surplus. An analysis of all regions shows that this region experienced the lowest annual reduction in operating surplus, which decreased by 6.3%.

Midland

Almost half (48.6%) of the region’s agricultural output was from livestock with a further 22.8% attributable to milk production. The Midland region produced 18.3% of the State’s pig output. Crop production was responsible for 23.2% of the region’s agricultural output. Overall, this region produced 10% of the State’s agricultural output. An estimated 77.4% of the region’s agricultural output was required to cover the costs of intermediate consumption. The Midland’s net subsidies to operating surplus far exceeded all other regions at 103.2%. Of all regions, the Midland region fared worst in 2018, with an annual fall in operating surplus of 25.9%.

Interactive table: StatBank Link

Link to release: Regional Accounts for Agriculture

Table 24.4 Agricultural output price index
       Base year 2015=100
 20142015201620172018
Cattle90.4100.093.094.793.4
Sheep98.8100.099.999.6105.1
Pigs109.4100.0102.6110.496.5
Poultry101.2100.099.599.299.5
Milk128.6100.091.0121.3114.2
Cereals105.8100.0101.3101.9123.9
Potatoes87.5100.0128.5117.2138.9
Fruit and vegetables99.9100.0100.3100.2106.9
Total outputs106.8100.095.1106.5104.4
Source: CSO

The agricultural output price index decreased by 1.97% in 2018 when compared to 2017, while remaining 4.4% higher than the base year of 2015.

Milk and cattle prices decreased by 7.3% and 1.4% respectively in 2018 compared to 2017. Milk prices were 14.2% higher in 2018 than in the base year of 2015, while cattle prices had dropped 6.6% over the same period.

Interactive table: StatBank link

Link to release: Agriculture Price Indices

Table 24.5 Agricultural input price index
       Base year 2015=100
 20142015201620172018
Feeding stuffs107.7100.0100.0100.6107.2
Fertilisers99.4100.086.281.586.4
Seeds104.2100.098.598.598.2
Energy (including electricity)112.7100.091.997.8106.5
Plant protection products100.0100.0102.3103.1103.9
Veterinary expenses99.2100.0101.9102.1105.3
Maintenance of materials and buildings100.2100.0100.7101.1103.4
Other goods and services95.5100.0104.4105.3104.4
Total inputs103.6100.097.998.2102.7
Source: CSO

The agricultural input price index increased by 4.6% in 2018 when compared to 2017. At 102.7, it was 2.7% higher than in the base year of 2015.

In particular, fertiliser prices increased by 6% between 2017 and 2018, while energy prices rose by 8.9% over the same period. Compared to the base year of 2015, fertilisers were 13.6% lower in 2018 while energy prices were 6.5% higher in 2018.

Interactive table: StatBank link

Link to release: Agriculture Price Indices

Total outputsTotal inputs
2014106.844103.6
2015100100
201695.11997.85
2017106.45898.219
2018104.372102.742
Table 24.6 Agricultural land prices 
  Year
  2014201520162017¹
Median price in Ireland€/ac6,7606,6476,3666,626
Mean price in Ireland€/ac6,5945,9655,6894,883
Number of transactions of agricultural land in Ireland 3,0972,6561,7191,591
Volume of transactions of agricultural land in IrelandAcres56,27353,86133,98232,990
Value of transactions of agricultural land in Ireland€million371.060321.264193.312161.080
¹2017 Agricultural land prices are subject to revision
Source: CSO

The median price of land in Ireland in 2017 was €6,626 per acre based on 1,591 transactions. These transactions totalled a value of €161.1 million for 32,990 acres of agricultural land.

Link to publication: Agriculture Land Prices

Go to next chapter >>> Fishing