Wholesale electricity prices fell by 14.9% in the month to February 2026 and were 23.3% lower than February 2025.
Domestic producer prices for manufactured goods were on average 2.2% higher in February 2026 compared with February 2025, while producer prices for exported goods were down by 6.3%. Overall, manufacturing producer prices were 5.5% lower in the year.
Producer prices for food products decreased by 2.9% in the 12 months to February 2026, while the Food Products, Beverages & Tobacco Index was down by 3.1%.
Some of the most notable changes in producer prices for food products over the 12 months to February 2026 were: Fish & Fish Products (+6.1%) and Other Food Products (-6.2%).
The most noteworthy changes in other producer prices in the year to February 2026 were: Chemicals & Chemical Products (+21.0%), Fabricated Metal Products, except Machinery & Equipment (+3.7%), Other Non-Metallic Mineral Products (+3.5%), Beverages (-4.4%), Basic Metals (-3.3%), and Mining & Quarrying (-3.1%).
Wholesale prices for Construction Products increased by 0.5% in the month to February 2026 and rose by 1.8% in the 12 months since February 2025.
| Wholesale Price Index- February 2026 | |||
| Price index Base Year 2021=100 | % monthly change | % annual change | |
| Dec 2025 | 103.3 | -0.6% | -6.4% |
| Jan 2026 | 104.7 | 1.4% | -5.2% |
| Feb 2026 | 103.5 | -1.1% | -5.5% |
Notable annual increases and decreases in Construction Products as shown in Table 3 include:
The Building & Construction Index (i.e. Materials and Wages) rose by 0.3% in the month to February 2026 and was up by 2.6% in the 12 months to February 2026. This index combines the All Materials Index with a measure of the change of wages in the Construction sector to provide an overall index for input construction costs (See Table 4).
There was a fall of 14.9% in the price of wholesale electricity in February 2026. The price of electricity was 23.3% lower than in February 2025 and was 72.1% lower when compared with the peak that occurred in August 2022.
The price index for all energy fuels rose by 2.5% in February 2026 but was down by 5.4% in the year since February 2025. As these results are for February, they do not capture the impact of the recent events in the Middle East.
The overall Energy Products Index has fallen by 10.8% since January 2026 and was 19.1% lower when compared with February 2025 (See Figure 3 and Table 5).
For more information on the categories of products in Table 3 see Description of Products for Building and Construction.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (23 March 2026) published the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for February 2026.
Commenting on the release, Deirdre Toher, Statistician in the Prices Division, said:
“Wholesale price inflation showed a decrease in February 2026 with a 1.1% decline in the overall Producer Price Index for manufacturing industries in the month.
The price index for export sales was down by 1.4% since January 2026, while the index for home sales was up by 1.4% in the month.
Producer prices for products sold on the domestic market were 2.2% higher in February 2026 compared with February 2025. In the 12 months to February 2026, export producer prices fell by 6.3%, while overall producer prices were down by 5.5%.
Electricity and Food Prices
Wholesale electricity prices dropped by 14.9% in February 2026 when compared with January 2026 and were 23.3% lower than February 2025. They have fallen by 72.1% when compared with the peak that occurred in August 2022. It should be noted that as these results are for February, they do not capture the impact of the recent events in the Middle East.
Producer prices for food products declined by 0.7% since January 2026 and fell by 2.9% in the year since February 2025. Some of the most notable changes in producer prices for food products over the 12 months to February 2026 were for Fish & Fish Products (+6.1%) and Other Food Products (-6.2%) (See Table 2).
Construction Products
The All Materials Index for Construction Products increased by 0.5% in February 2026 and rose by 1.8% in the 12 months since February 2025. The Building & Construction Index (i.e. Materials and Wages) was up by 0.3% in the month and was 2.6% higher than the same month last year (See Tables 3 and 4).”