Agricultural Producer Price Inflation Up Significantly

Agricultural producer prices were on average 61.0% higher in September than a year earlier, with the rate of increase jumping by 8.1 percentage points after 2.2 percentage points in August, according to the latest data released by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) .

The purchase price of live animals was 69.2% higher than in September last year, up 14.1 percentage points from 55.7% in August. With the price of livestock products up 55.0%, live animals and livestock products combined showed an annual increase of 64.3%, up 10.4 percentage points from the previous month.

The purchase price of live hogs rose 99.7%, almost a double increase from last September, up 35.3 percentage points from August. The purchase price of poultry increased by 55.7% in a year. Milk prices rose 64.8% and egg prices 51.7%, up 15.9 percentage points from August.

Producer prices for crops and horticultural products averaged 59.5% higher than last September, a 7.0 percentage point increase year-over-year from August. The biggest rebound was in oilseed prices, which jumped 12.7 percentage points to 52.7% in September. The farm price of sunflower seeds was 66.4% higher than a year ago, a steeper annual increase of 30.9 percentage points from August.

The average price level for potatoes in September was 44.5% higher than a year earlier, a 7.2 percentage point annual increase from the previous month. Cereal purchase prices were on average 82.3% higher than last September. The producer price of wheat was 77.7% higher and that of maize 84.5% higher than last September.

The average price of fruit was lower than last year for the second month in a row, down 0.9% in September from 1.7% in August. The buying price of fruit remained below a year earlier from October to May last year, showing only modest increases in June and July.

Only the price increase for vegetables slowed down in September, with an annual rise of 39.8%, 4.2 percentage points lower than in August.