Fertiliser prices for the past year are on track to finish 24% lower than 2023, according to the latest data available from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Its preliminary estimates for farm input costs show a projected 24.3% drop in the price of fertiliser compared with 2023.

The CSO analysis does not compare fertiliser prices in real terms, but compares them to a reference year, which in this case was 2020.

The data shows that farmers suffered significant hikes in fertiliser costs in 2022, coinciding with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Using the 2020 fertiliser price as its reference point, the CSO found that prices rose by 24% in 2021 and by 167% in 2022. Prices in 2023 fell, but were still 87% higher than the reference year.

During the past year, the CSO has estimated that farmers have paid prices that are 24% lower than last year, albeit still almost 42% higher than they did four years ago.

The CSO also estimated that the cost of animal feed will have fallen by almost 14% compared with 2023.