Wholesale electricity prices surged 26% in year to April, says CSO
Irish wholesale electricity prices were more than a quarter higher in April than they were last year, the
Central Statistics Office
(CSO) said on Thursday, amid a wider spike in European
energy prices
in the early part of 2025.
The statistics agency's latest wholesale price index, which tracks the prices that retailers pay for goods before selling them on to consumers or businesses, declined 1.4 per cent between March and April and was down 3.6 per cent over 12 months.
Meanwhile, wholesale electricity prices – the prices paid by energy retailers on global markets before they sell to households – were down 15.7 per cent in the month in line with seasonal factors.
On an annual basis, however, wholesale electricity prices have soared by 25.6 per cent, the CSO said.
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While they remain some 71 per cent lower than in 2022 at the height of the energy crisis after Russia invaded Ukraine, electricity prices have skyrocketed this year across Europe in line with a spike in natural gas prices.
This has been largely due to the halting of Russian gas deliveries across Ukraine in January and low levels of natural gas storage across Europe due to cold weather this winter.
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Electricity prices dip in March but are 52% higher than a year ago
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Higher wholesale energy prices have not yet been passed on to consumers in the Republic in full, according to separate CSO data published earlier this month.
In its latest consumer price index, the agency said household electricity prices rose just 1.3 per cent in the 12 months to the end of April and were also up 1.3 per cent in the month compared with March.
Meanwhile, the CSO said on Thursday that factory gate prices for construction increased marginally in April from March and were up 1 per cent over the 12 months.
When industry wages are included, wholesale construction prices were 2 per cent higher in April compared with the same month last year.
There were notable increases in the wholesale price of foodstuffs, including dairy products, which climbed 22 per cent in the year to April and meat products prices, which were up 7.3 per cent.
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