New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that wholesale electricity prices continued to trend downwards during 2023 and were at their lowest point in December since April 2021.
The CSO said that wholesale electricity prices fell by 27.6% in December and were 67.8% lower than in December 2022.
It added that the overall Energy Products index was down by 22.7% since November 2023 and was down by 60.3% when compared with December 2022.
Today's CSO figures also show that prices on the wholesale market for the overall food products category were lower in December 2023 than at any time since December 2021.
Producer prices for food products fell by 0.4% in the month and by 8.5% in the 12 months to December, after a previous monthly fall of 1.4% in November.
The CSO noted that producer prices for dairy products were down by 32.4% since December 2022.
Other food categories showed notable wholesale price changes in December last year compared with the same month in 2022, including fish and fish products, which dropped by 8.9%, while vegetable and animal oils and fats were 8.1% lower.
Overall, wholesale price inflation showed a decrease in December with a drop of 0.6% in the overall Producer Price Index for manufacturing industries in the month.
The CSO said that producer prices for products sold on the domestic market were 3.7% lower in December 2023 compared with December 2022, with export producer prices increasing by 2.4% and overall producer prices up by 2.1% in the year.
