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Agricultural producer, input price indices drop in Q4 2014
During the fourth quarter last year, producer and input price indices for agriculture dropped by 3.3 per cent and 2.6 per cent respectively over the corresponding quarter of 2013.
The producer price index for agricultural products decreased by 3.3 per cent, from 115.82 points in the fourth quarter of 2013 to 112.06 points in the comparative period of 2014.
Underpinning this result was an increase of 7.5 per cent in the fresh vegetable price index, due to higher producer prices recorded mainly for onions (+111.8 per cent), lettuce (+36.9 per cent) and pumpkins (+3.4 per cent). On the other hand, the price of potatoes went down by 30.5 per cent as a result of a sharp increase in supply.
The fruit price index increased by 5.1 per cent. This was mainly due to an increase in prices fetched for olives (+15.2 per cent) and citrus fruit (+3.4 per cent).
The animal slaughtering index decreased by 2.7 per cent as lower prices were registered for poultry (-8.6 per cent) and rabbits (-4.0 per cent). The animal product index registered a decrease of 6.9 per cent on account of lower producer prices received for eggs (-13.1 per cent) and milk (-4.8 per cent).
The annual average producer price index for 2014 stood at 104.91 points, reflecting a drop of 8.5 per cent over 2013. This resulted from a decrease in the producer price index of, mainly, potatoes (-24.6 per cent), fresh vegetables (-15.3 per cent) and animal products (-9.8 per cent).
In the fourth quarter of 2014, the input price index for agriculture dropped by 2.6 per cent to 110.76 points.
The goods and services index, which registers running cost movements, went down by 3.1 per cent over the comparative period of 2013. This was mainly attributed to lower prices of animal feeding stuffs (-6.6 per cent) and fertilisers (-2.7 per cent). The machinery and investment index decreased marginally by 0.2 per cent on account of lower prices paid for buildings (-1.8 per cent).
The annual average input price index for 2014 stood at 112.90 points, down by 2.9 per cent over 2013. Underpinning this result were decreases of 7.2, 5.4 and 1.3 per cent in feeding stuffs, fertilisers and motor fuels respectively. Additionally, the machinery and investment index dropped by 0.3 per cent on account of lower prices for buildings (-1.1 per cent).
