Eurostat reports agricultural products price rises after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has significantly disturbed global agricultural markets, particularly as Russia and Ukraine have been major exporters of grains, wheat, maize, oilseeds (particularly sunflowers) and fertilisers, EU statistics agency Eurostat said on July 1.
“This has added further instability to markets, resulting in sharp price rises for key agricultural products and inputs,” Eurostat said.
In the first quarter of 2022 (Q1 2022), the average price of goods and services currently consumed in agriculture (i.e. inputs not related to investment) increased by 9.5 per cent compared with the fourth quarter of 2021 (Q4 2021), underpinned by strong rises for fertilisers and soil improvers (+21.2 per cent), energy and lubricants (+17.4 per cent) and animal feedingstuffs (+9.2 per cent).
Meanwhile, the average price of agricultural goods as a whole (output) increased by six per cent.
“The latest quarterly price rises build on increases since the start of Q1 2021,” Eurostat said.
On an annual basis, the average price of agricultural inputs not related to investment jumped by 27.4 per cent for the EU between the Q1 2021 and Q1 2022.
In particular, the price of fertiliser and soil improvers almost doubled on average in the EU (+96.2 per cent), and the average price of energy and lubricants rose by just over one half (+55.6 per cent). The higher cost of cereals and energy also passed through to animal feedingstuffs (+22.9 per cent).
The average price of agricultural output increased by 19.9 per cent for the EU between the Q1 2021 and Q1 2022. There were particularly strong price increases for cereals (on average +41.5 per cent), and oilseeds (+51.7 per cent), as well as cattle (+24.2 per cent), poultry (+22.2 per cent) and milk (+21.4 per cent), among others.
Among the EU member states, the largest rate of increase in the average price of agricultural output was recorded in Lithuania (+18.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2022 compared with the fourth quarter of 2021), followed by Romania (+14.4 per cent) and the Netherlands (+13.9 per cent).
Croatia (-5.8 per cent, driven by the fall in the price of forage plants), Slovakia (-0.8 per cent) and Greece (-0.4 per cent) were the only countries with a price index decrease in this period.
The sharpest rate of increase in the average price of inputs not related to investment was also recorded in Lithuania (+24.5 per cent), followed by Latvia (+18.9 per cent) and Slovakia (+14.6 per cent).
All EU countries recorded rises, but the smallest rates of increase were in Malta (+4.7 per cent), Slovenia and Portugal (both +6.2 per cent), Eurostat said.
(Photo: Darla Hueska/unsplash.com)
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