The highest price increase recorded across all farm inputs last year were those posted for fertiliser, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has said.

Fertiliser prices have increased some 86.9% in the 12 months between the end of 2020 and last year, figures released by the agency have shown.

The CSO’s statistics point towards an average annual farm input price increase of 9.2% in 2021, while the output price index rose by 11.5%, although milk price increases have reportedly been higher than the outputs of other sectors.

Electricity prices also rose by 15.2% for farmers in 2021, according to the CSO’s figures.

In the month of December, farm input prices declined by an average of 3.7%.