Producer Price Index - Agriculture - 4th Quarter 2019
Highlights
1. Monthly index
Overall index
The Producer Price Index–Agriculture, which was 100.7 in September 2019 decreased by 0.6% to reach 100.1 in December 2019. This fall was due to the combined effects of a decrease of 4.1% in October followed by increases of 2.5% and 1.1% in November and December respectively.
Sugar cane
The index for “Sugar cane” for the period October to December 2019 was 63.2 based on the provisional price of sugar for the 2019 crop. This represents an increase of 14.9% over the 2018 crop. It is assumed that the same price prevails during the whole of the crop year. It is to be noted that the index may be revised at the end of June 2020 when the final price is available.
Other crop products
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In October, the index for “Other crop products” decreased by 7.9%, mainly due to a decrease of 17.5% in the prices of fresh vegetables (tomato, creepers, brinjal and other fresh vegetables), partly mitigated by an increase of 6.6% in the prices of fruits and nuts.
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In November, the index increased by 6.1% mainly due to an increase of 29.5% in the prices of fruits and nuts, partly offset by decreases of 15.1% and 2.8% in the prices of stimulant and spice, and fresh vegetables (tomato and creepers) respectively.
- In December, the index rose by 1.9% mainly due to an increase of 10.1% in the prices of fresh vegetables (creepers and beans), partly offset by a decrease of 34.5% in the prices of stimulant and spice.
Animals and animal products
- In November, the index increased by 0.6% due to an increase in the prices of eggs (+3.4%).
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In December, the index rose by 0.8% due to increases in the prices of eggs (+2.1%) and poultry (+0.6%).
2. Quarterly index
The overall index for the fourth quarter of 2019 decreased by 3.4% when compared to the previous quarter and increased by 5.4% when compared to the corresponding quarter.
3. Yearly index
In 2019, producer prices of agricultural products were on average 0.3% higher compared to 2018.
March 2020
