New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that wholesale electricity prices rose by 12.3% in January but were 38.4% lower compared to the same time last year.
The CSO said its overall Energy Products Index was up by 9.4% since December but was down by 31.4% when compared with January 2023.
Today's CSO figures show that overall wholesale price inflation showed an increase in January with a rise of 1.4% in the overall Producer Price Index for manufacturing industries in the month.
Producer prices for products sold on the domestic market were 6% lower in January 2024 compared with the same month last year.
The CSO statistics also reveal that producer prices for food products rose by 0.3% in the month but dropped by 9.8% on an annual basis. This follows a previous monthly fall of 0.4% in December.
Producer prices for Dairy Products increased by 0.6% in the month but have dropped by 28.4% since January 2023.
Several other food categories showed notable changes in January, including Other Food Products, which fell by 10.1%, while Grain Milling, Starches & Animal Feeds prices eased by 6.2% and Vegetable & Animal Oils & Fats prices slowed by 5.3%. But Fish & Fish Products producer prices rose by 5.9%.
Meanwhile, construction materials inflation dropped by 0.6%, which Ian Lawlor, managing director of Lotus Investment Group, said marked a significant improvement on this time last year when annual inflation for construction materials stood at almost 15%.
"The slight fall in the cost of basic construction materials is good news for prospective house buyers as this should ultimately reduce the cost of building homes - and in turn, help stop house prices accelerating," Mr Lawlor said.
He said today's CSO figures shows there have been some large changes in the price of some construction materials over the last year, including a 22.5% drop in the price of reinforcing metal.
While cement prices are up 6% over the last year, he said this marked an improvement on February 2023, when annual inflation for cement stood at 24%.
Also commenting on today's CSO figures, Daragh Cassidy from Bonkers.ie said that despite the monthly increase in wholesale electricity prices, January was the first time in around two and a half years that wholesale prices have come in under €100 per MWh for two months in a row.
"However, at just under €100 per MWh in January, and an average of around €110 per MWh over the past six months, wholesale prices are still over double normal levels. And this is why electricity prices for households remain so high," Mr Cassidy said.
All the main energy suppliers recently responded to the easing of wholesale prices by announcing their second price cut in just a few months. But even after these cuts, residential electricity prices still remain around 80% to 90% above what would, until recently, have been considered normal levels, he added.
