Wholesale electricity prices fell by 6.4% in the month to March 2025 but were 52.0% higher than March 2024.
Domestic producer prices for manufactured goods were on average 1.3% higher in March 2025 compared with a year earlier, while producer prices for exported goods were down by 2.2%. Overall, manufacturing producer prices were 1.9% lower in the year.
Producer prices for food products increased by 6.9% in the 12 months to March 2025, while the Food Products, Beverages & Tobacco Index was up by 5.9%.
Some of the most notable changes in producer prices for food products over the 12 months to March 2025 were: Dairy Products (+22.0%), Other Food Products (+5.9%), Meat & Meat Products (+5.7%), and Vegetables & Animal Oils & Fats (-16.2%).
The most noteworthy changes in other producer prices in the year to March 2025 were: Fabricated Metal Products, except Machinery & Equipment (+3.5%), Furniture (+3.3%), Chemicals & Chemical Products (-13.6%), and Rubber & Plastic Products (-2.7%).
Wholesale prices for construction products grew by 0.2% in the month to March 2025 and rose by 1.0% in the 12 months since March 2024.
| Wholesale Price Index- March 2025 | |||
| Price index (Year ‘21=100) | % monthly change | % annual change | |
| Jan 2025 | 110.5 | 0.1% | 2.1% |
| Feb 2025 | 109.5 | -0.9% | -0.5% |
| Mar 2025 | 106.9 | -2.4% | -1.9% |
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 0.2% in the month to March 2025 and was up by 2.1% in the 12 months to March 2025. 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 decrease of 6.4% in the price of wholesale electricity in March 2025. The price of electricity was 52.0% higher than in March 2024 but was 66.0% lower when compared with the peak that occurred in August 2022.
The price index for all energy fuels fell by 7.1% in March 2025 and was down by 5.8% in the year since March 2024.
The overall Energy Products Index was down by 6.6% since February 2025 but was 32.9% higher when compared with March 2024 (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.
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (24 April 2025) published the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for March 2025.
Commenting on the release, Deirdre Toher, Statistician in the Prices Division, said:
“Wholesale price inflation showed a decrease in March 2025 with a 2.4% decline in the overall Producer Price Index for manufacturing industries in the month.
The price index for export sales was down by 2.7% since February 2025, while the index for home sales was down by 0.1% in the month.
Producer prices for products sold on the domestic market were 1.3% higher in March 2025 compared with March 2024. In the 12 months to March 2025, export producer prices fell by 2.2%, while overall producer prices were down by 1.9%.
Electricity Prices
Wholesale electricity prices dropped by 6.4% in March 2025 when compared with February 2025 but were 52.0% higher than March 2024. They have fallen by 66.0% when compared with the peak that occurred in August 2022.
Construction Products
The All Materials Index for construction products increased by 0.2% in March 2025 and rose by 1.0% in the 12 months since March 2024. The Building & Construction Index (i.e. Materials and Wages) was up by 0.2% in the month and was 2.1% higher than the same month last year (See Tables 3 and 4).”