Official figures show that factory gate prices - or prices of goods before they reach the consumer - fell by 1% in March from February, after two months of increases.
The Central Statistics Office said, however, that the annual rate of increase moved up to 4.5% as there was an even bigger fall in March last year.
Prices of goods for export have risen by 5.5% over the year, while those sold at home were up only 0.9%.
A breakdown of wholesale prices shows that prices off building and construction materials have fallen by 2.4% in the year to March, with a 0.6% monthly fall. Prices of energy products dropped by 3.2% in the year, with petroleum fuels down almost 24%. Energy prices fell 0.9% in the month, and petroleum fuels were down 3.8% from February.
