In the European Union, agricultural output prices and non-investment production costs fell by 3% in the second quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, Eurostat reports.

Prices of goods used in the production of agricultural produce (non-investment inputs such as energy, fertilisers or feed) fell by an average of 7 percent.

Eurostat notes that the average price fall was smaller than in the previous two quarters.

The EU's statistics agency recalls that, after the disruptions in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the price of agricultural products rose rapidly in 2021 and the first three quarters of 2022, before slowing down and being replaced by a fall in prices. More recently, agricultural output and input prices have been moving towards pre-pandemic levels.

Prices for most agricultural commodities showed a diverging trend in April-June compared to the same period last year. The average price of egg cereals (15%), cereals (14%) and feed (13%) fell the most, while the prices of olive oil (41%) and potatoes (10%) rose the most.

The overall price index for vegetables fell by 1 per cent and for fruit by 3 per cent.

Of the non-investment related inputs, the most significant price declines were observed for fertilisers and soil improvers (19 per cent) and animal feeds (13 per cent).

At the national level, agricultural output prices fell in most EU Member States, with the most significant decreases in Hungary (13%), Poland (12%) and the Czech Republic (10%). The fastest increases were recorded in Greece (8%), Latvia (4%), Cyprus and Ireland (3% each).