Agricultural production costs fall by 0.3% in 2023. But machinery prices rise by 1.4%

The price index of goods and services for current consumption (INPUT I) in agriculture registered a decrease of 0.3% in 2023, compared to December of the previous year.

According to the Monthly Bulletin of Agriculture and Fisheries – March 2024, from the National Statistics Institute (INE), the products that contributed most to this index were fertilizers and correctives (-42.2%) and energy and lubricants (-4 ,1%). The biggest increases were recorded in animal feed (+8.0%) and seeds (+5.0%).

Compared to the previous month, November 2023, there was a 0.5% decrease in the price indices of goods and services for current consumption, with the most significant variation being observed in energy and lubricants (-3.6% ).

In the price index for investment goods and services (INPUT II) there was a positive variation of 1.4%, of which the price index for machinery and materials for culture stands out (+1.1%); Compared to the previous month, there was no significant variation, adds the Monthly Bulletin of Agriculture and Fisheries – March 2024.

Producer price index for agricultural products

On the other hand, INE technicians say that, in February 2024, in the producer price index for agricultural products, there were positive variations in bulk olive oil (+58.6%), fruits (+31.9% ), poultry (+8.9%), sheep and goats (+1.1%), and negative changes in fresh vegetables (-34.1%), eggs (-11.3%), plants and flowers (-6.6%), pigs (-5.2%), potatoes (-2.6%) and cattle (-0.1%).

In relation to the previous month, there was an increase in the price index for cattle (+2.6%), poultry (+0.2%) and pigs (+0.1%), and a decrease in the index price of fresh vegetables (-20.0%), bulk olive oil (-4.5%), eggs (-3.7%), sheep and goats (-3.6%), fruits (-3.5 %), plants and flowers (-0.4%) and potatoes (-0.3%).

However, it should be noted that these data, published monthly by INE, are often the target of criticism from agricultural producers, who consider them “unrealistic”, and “made based on surveys of two or three of the largest producers”.

Agriculture and Sea