The Czech Republic’s agricultural sector grappled with a substantial downturn in November, with agricultural product prices experiencing a notable 16.2% decrease compared to the same period the previous year. This marks the seventh consecutive month of price drops, revealing an intensified decline from October’s roughly 10% reduction, according to data released by the Czech Statistical Office (CZSO).

Despite the consistent downturn in the agriculture sector, year-on-year prices in the industry registered a modest increase of 0.8%. However, on a month-on-month basis, there was a decrease of 0.4%.

Within the plant production sector, prices witnessed a sharp year-on-year decline of 19.4%, with cereals experiencing a particularly significant drop of 36.3%. Oilseeds also saw a substantial decrease of 35.8%. In contrast, fruit prices surged by 40%, while potatoes recorded an increase of more than 31%. Vegetable prices demonstrated a more moderate increase of 3%.

In the animal production sector, prices faced a year-on-year reduction of 10.5%. Notably, milk prices decreased by 18.5%, eggs by 2.9%, cattle by 3.1%, and poultry by a consistent 4%. However, pig prices bucked the trend with a notable increase of 9.5%.

Turning to the industry sector, there was an annual acceleration in price growth to 0.8%, up from October’s 0.2%. Prices in electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning surged by 8%, while coal prices exhibited a remarkable year-on-year increase of almost 62%.

Construction works prices increased by 3.3% on a year-on-year basis, following October’s growth of 3.6%. However, prices of materials and products consumed in construction witnessed a 0.5% decrease in November compared to the previous year. In a month-on-month comparison, construction work prices saw a slight increase of 0.1%, while materials and products prices decreased by 0.1% compared to October.

Article by Prague Forum