In the first quarter of 2024, agricultural prices in the EU for both outputs and inputs not related to investment fell. The average price of agricultural output decreased by 6% compared to the same quarter in 2023, while the average price of goods and services consumed in agriculture (excluding investment-related inputs) dropped by 11%.
Following a period of significant price increases in 2021 and the first three quarters of 2022, agricultural prices have since slowed in growth and begun to decline, trending towards pre-disruption levels.
Price changes for various agricultural outputs in Q1 2024 varied widely. The price of cereals saw a significant drop of 28%, milk prices fell by 12%, while eggs and industrial crops (including oilseeds, protein crops, raw tobacco, and sugar beet) decreased by 10%. Fresh vegetables also saw a 6% decline, with tomatoes experiencing a sharp 33% drop. Conversely, the price of potatoes rose by 22%, and fresh fruit prices increased by 20%, despite a 44% reduction in lemon and lime prices, influenced by anticipated weather-related impacts on harvest quantities.
Among non-investment inputs, significant price declines were recorded for fertilisers and soil improvers (-31%), animal feedingstuffs (-16%), and energy and lubricants (-12%).
At the national level, 21 out of 25 EU countries with available data reported a decrease in agricultural output prices in Q1 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. The largest declines were observed in Hungary (-24%), Bulgaria and Romania (both -18%), and Slovakia and Czechia (both -17%). Conversely, prices rose in five southern EU countries, with Greece experiencing the sharpest increase at +20%, followed by Malta and Spain (+4%), and Portugal and Cyprus (+1%).
For inputs not related to investment, 24 out of 25 EU countries recorded price declines in Q1 2024 compared to Q1 2023. The largest reductions were in Croatia (-20%), Hungary (-19%), and the Netherlands and Ireland (both -17%), while Portugal was the only country with a price increase
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