Producer Price Index- Agriculture - 1st Quarter 2020
Highlights
1. Monthly index
Overall index
The Producer Price Index–Agriculture, which was 100.1 in December 2019 increased by 25.3% to reach 125.4 in March 2020. This rise was due to increases of 12.5%, 0.7% and 10.6% in January, February and March respectively.
Sugar cane
The index for “Sugar cane” for the period July 2019 to March 2020 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 January, the index for “Other crop products” increased by 32.5%, mainly due to increases of 44.1% in the prices of fresh vegetables (tomato, creepers, bean, cabbage, carrot and other fresh vegetables) and 32.7% in the prices of fruits and nuts.
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In February, the index increased by 1.5% mainly due to increases of 22.7% in the prices of fresh vegetables (tomato, cabbage and carrot) and 22.5% in the prices of edible roots and tubers, partly offset by a decrease of 33.3% in the prices of fruits and nuts.
- In March, the index rose by 24.0% mainly due to increases of 31.8% in the prices of fresh vegetables (tomato, carrot, creepers and cabbage) and 47.2% in the prices of edible roots and tubers.
Animals and animal products
- In February, the index remained unchanged at 101.4.
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In March, the index fell by 0.6% due to a decrease in the prices of eggs (-3.7%).
2. Quarterly index
The overall index for the first quarter of 2020 increased by 18.0% when compared to the previous quarter and increased by 17.3% when compared to the corresponding quarter of 2019.
June 2020
