Rise in agricultural producer price index

The producer price index of agricultural output rose by 8.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2007 when compared to the same period last year.

An increase of 29.5 per cent was registered in the fresh vegetables price index, resulting from a general decrease in the market supply of fresh vegetables. As a result, higher prices were fetched for vegetable marrows (+87.6 per cent) and tomatoes (+30 per cent). A drop in the supply of potatoes was the main factor for higher prices (+15.8 per cent).

The fresh fruit price index registered a decline of 3.4 per cent, to stand at 102.2 points when compared to the same quarter last year. This was mainly due to an increase in the supply of citrus fruit, mainly oranges, the price of which dropped by 14.7 per cent.

The animals slaughtering index declined by 2.5 per cent as lower prices were registered for slaughtered bulls (-14.6 per cent), cows (-5.9 per cent) and pigs (-five per cent). The price for slaughtered rabbits rose marginally by 1.2 per cent.

The animal products index increased by 15.4 per cent due to higher prices fetched for raw milk (+20.9 per cent) while the price of eggs remained unchanged. The input price index for agriculture rose by 13.6 per cent on an annual basis in the fourth quarter of 2007.

The goods and services index increased by 13.8 per cent due to higher prices for feeding stuffs (+24.9 per cent) and motor fuels (+7.6 per cent).

The machinery and investment index rose by 1.6 per cent on account of higher prices for machinery used in the cultivation of crops (+1.8 per cent).

The annual average producer price index for 2007 stood at 102.1, an increase of 4.6 per cent over 2006.

This resulted from an increase in the producer price index of fresh vegetables (+9.1 per cent), fruit (+22.2 per cent), potatoes (+35.1 per cent) and animal products (+6.8 per cent). On the other hand, the producer price index of slaughtered animals declined by 1.1 per cent.

The annual average input price index for 2007 increased by 5.1 per cent mainly due to costlier feeding stuffs (+9.7 per cent) and higher prices paid for the maintenance of materials (+3.7 per cent). Over the comparative period, the machinery and investment index rose slightly by 1.6 per cent.