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Wholesale Price Index February 2023

Producer Prices for food products rose by over 6% in the 12 months to February 2023

Online ISSN: 2009-5198
CSO statistical publication, , 11am

Key Findings

  • Wholesale electricity prices decreased by 1.8% since January 2023 and were 9.2% lower in February 2023 when compared with February 2022.

  • Domestic producer prices for manufactured goods were on average 10.6% higher in February 2023 compared with a year earlier, while producer prices for exported goods increased by 3.1%.

  • Producer prices for food products rose by 6.2% in the 12 months to February 2023, while the Food Products, Beverages & Tobacco index also saw an increase of 6.2%.

  • Some of the most notable changes in producer prices for food products over the 12 months to February 2023 were: Dairy Products (+23.8%), Fish & Fish Products (+18.2%), Fruit & Vegetables (+18.2%) and Grain, Milling, Starches & Animal Feeds (+12.2%).

  • The most notable changes in other producer prices in the year were: Wood & Wood Products (+22.4%), Other Non-Metallic Mineral Products (such as glass, ceramics, cement, concrete and stone) (+12.0%), Furniture (+9.4%) and Wearing Apparel (+8.8%).

  • Wholesale prices for construction products increased by 0.2% in the month and by 14.7% in the 12 months since February 2022.

Statistician's Comment

Commenting on the release, Jillian Delaney, Statistician in the Prices Division, said: ''Wholesale price inflation showed signs of levelling off in February 2023 with no change to the overall producer price index for the manufacturing industries in the month. The price index for export sales was the same as for January 2023, while the index for home sales rose by 0.1% in the month. Producer prices for products sold on the domestic market are now 10.6% higher than they were in February 2022, with export producer prices rising by 3.1% and overall producer prices by 3.6% higher in the year.

While producer prices in the Food Products index showed no change in the month, this overall index was still 6.2% higher than in February 2022. Several food categories were also still significantly higher in February 2023 compared with the same month in 2022, including Dairy Products (+23.8%), Fish & Fish Products (+18.2%) and Fruit & Vegetables (+18.2%) (See Table 2).

Wholesale electricity prices decreased by 1.8% in February 2023 and were 9.2% lower than in February 2022. The changes in electricity prices over the last two years can be seen in Figure 3 (See also Table 5).

The All Materials Index for construction products rose by 0.2% in the month and by 14.7% in the year, while the Building and Construction (i.e. Materials and Wages) index increased by 1.3% in the month and 9.2% on the same month last year (See Tables 3 and 4).''

Wholesale prices for construction products increased by 14.7% over 12 months

Notable annual increases in construction products as shown in Table 3 include:

  • Structural Steel Fabricated Metal: 73.1%
  • Plaster: 34.8%
  • Plumbing Materials incl. Sanitary Ware: 29.9%
  • Ready Mixed Mortar & Concrete: 24.2%
  • Cement: 24.1%
  • Paints, Oils & Varnishes: 23.6%

The Building and Construction Index (i.e. Materials and Wages) increased by 1.3% in the month and rose by 9.2% in the 12 months to February 2023. This index combines the All Materials Index with a measure of the change in wages in the construction sector to provide an overall index for input construction costs. (See Table 4).

Wholesale electricity prices decreased by over 9% annually

There was a decrease in the price of wholesale electricity in February 2023 with prices 1.8% lower than the previous month. The price of electricity was 9.2% lower than in February 2022. The overall Energy Products Index decreased by 1.7% since January 2023 and by 7.1% when compared with February 2022 (See Figure 3 and Table 5).

Headline Table and Graph

Wholesale Price Index- February 2023
 Price index (Year ‘15=100)% monthly change% annual change
Dec 202285.6-1.3%2.5%
Jan 202386.71.3%3.7%
Feb 202386.70.0%3.6%
Output Price Index
Jan 20163.3
Feb 20161
Mar 2016-2.2
Apr 2016-4.1
May 2016-1.2
Jun 2016-1.9
Jul 2016-1.6
Aug 2016-1.5
Sep 2016-2.4
Oct 20160.9
Nov 2016-1.3
Dec 2016-0.1
Jan 20170.6
Feb 20170.3
Mar 20173.5
Apr 20175.4
May 20174.5
Jun 20172.5
Jul 20171
Aug 2017-0.7
Sep 20170.8
Oct 2017-7.3
Nov 2017-9.1
Dec 2017-4.7
Jan 2018-4.4
Feb 2018-4.3
Mar 2018-6.1
Apr 2018-7.4
May 2018-5.6
June 2018-1.3
Jul 2018-1.2
Aug 2018-0.3
Sep 20180.3
Oct 20181.9
Nov 20183.1
Dec 2018-2.3
Jan 20190.1
Feb 20190.1
Mar 20190.4
Apr 20190.9
May 2019-0.7
Jun 2019-2.4
Jul 2019-2
Aug 2019-1.2
Sep 2019-0.7
Oct 2019-2.2
Nov 2019-1.9
Dec 2019-2
Jan 2020-4.2
Feb 2020-1.4
Mar 2020-5.4
Apr 2020-8.3
May 2020-9.3
Jun 2020-10.4
Jul 2020-10.6
Aug 2020-12.4
Sep 2020-12.4
Oct 2020-5.1
Nov 2020-10.7
Dec 2020-14.5
Jan 2021-12.6
Feb 2021-14
Mar 2021-10.1
Apr 2021-7
May 2021-7.6
Jun 2021-5.3
Jul 2021-2.1
Aug 2021-1.4
Sep 2021-1.9
Oct 2021-2.6
Nov 20210.2
Dec 20214.5
Jan 20223.5
Feb 20222.8
Mar 20224.4
Apr 20225.2
May 20227.3
Jun 20226.2
Jul 20226.2
Aug 20224.7
Sep 20226.1
Oct 20228
Nov 20223.8
Dec 20222.5
Jan 20233.7
Feb 20233.6
HomeExport
Jan 2015100.296.8
Feb 201599.698.8
Mar 201599.9101.1
Apr 201599.8102.6
May 2015100100.2
Jun 201599.999.8
Jul 201510099.8
Aug 2015100.3100.2
Sep 2015100.298.9
Oct 201510096.6
Nov 2015100102.8
Dec 2015100102.5
Jan 2016100100.2
Feb 201699.199.9
Mar 201699.598.9
Apr 2016100.898.1
May 2016100.998.9
Jun 201610197.7
Jul 201610198.1
Aug 2016100.198.7
Sep 201610096.4
Oct 201610097.6
Nov 2016100.1101.5
Dec 2016100.1102.4
Jan 2017100.4100.8
Feb 201799.2100.1
Mar 201799.5102.6
Apr 201799.5103.7
May 201799.4103.7
Jun 201799.5100.3
Jul 201799.699.2
Aug 201799.597.9
Sep 201799.897.2
Oct 201799.790.2
Nov 201797.791.9
Dec 201797.797.5
Jan 20189896.4
Feb 201898.195.7
Mar 201898.496.1
Apr 201898.895.6
May 201898.697.7
Jun 201898.999
Jul 20189998
Aug 20189997.6
Sep 201899.497.5
Oct 201899.492
Nov 201899.494.9
Dec 201899.795.2
Jan 2019100.696.4
Feb 2019101.395.6
Mar 2019101.296.4
Apr 2019101.196.5
May 2019101.196.8
Jun 2019101.196.4
Jul 2019101.395.8
Aug 2019101.496.3
Sep 2019101.396.8
Oct 2019101.189.8
Nov 2019101.393
Dec 201910193
Jan 202099.792.1
Feb 202010094.4
Mar 2020100.191.1
Apr 202099.788.2
May 202099.687.5
Jun 202099.786.1
Jul 202099.785.2
Aug 202099.683.9
Sep 202099.984.3
Oct 202099.985
Nov 202099.582.6
Dec 202099.679.1
Jan 202110079.9
Feb 202199.580.7
Mar 202199.881.4
Apr 2021100.281.7
May 2021100.980.4
Jun 2021101.581.2
Jul 2021102.583.2
Aug 2021102.482.5
Sep 2021102.882.4
Oct 2021103.982.7
Nov 2021104.582.5
Dec 2021105.582.5
Jan 2022107.982.5
Feb 2022105.782.8
Mar 2022106.184.9
Apr 2022107.385.9
May 2022108.986.2
Jun 2022109.686.1
Jul 2022112.288.2
Aug 2022113.286.1
Sep 2022113.587.3
Oct 2022114.689.1
Nov 2022114.885.5
Dec 2022114.984.4
Jan 2023116.885.4
Feb 2023116.985.4
Wholesale Price Index - Electricity
Jan 2021144.7
Feb 2021106.2
Mar 2021134.5
Apr 2021157.7
May 2021178.5
Jun 2021175.4
Jul 2021264.7
Aug 2021242.6
Sep 2021360.9
Oct 2021396.1
Nov 2021377.8
Dec 2021462.2
Jan 2022371.8
Feb 2022323.5
Mar 2022541.3
Apr 2022402.9
May 2022264.5
Jun 2022335.6
Jul 2022493.2
Aug 2022715.5
Sep 2022522.9
Oct 2022251.2
Nov 2022264.2
Dec 2022510.4
Jan 2023299.3
Feb 2023293.8
Table 1 Manufacturing Industries Output Price Indices (excluding VAT)

Table 2 Industrial Producer Price Indices (excluding VAT)

Table 2A Contribution to changes in the Manufacturing Output Price Index, February 2023 (Table 2)

Table 3 Detailed Wholesale Price Indices (excluding VAT) for Building and Construction Materials

For more information on the categories of products in Table 3 see Description of Products for Building and Construction.

Table 4 Capital Goods Price Indices (excluding VAT)

Table 5 Wholesale Price Indices (excluding VAT) for Energy Products (i.e. Fuels purchased by Manufacturing Industry)