Irish producers have faced “significant” price hikes in producing food products this year, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

In the 12 months to June, dairy manufacturer prices increased by 49.1%, meat products rose by 14.5% and grain milling, starches and animal feed producer prices rose 11.7%

“Prices in several food categories produced by Irish manufacturers were significantly higher in June 2022 compared to the same month last year,” CSO statistician of price divisions Jillian Delaney said.

READ MORE: Miriam Margolyes calls on government to help farmers move away from dairy

Outputs from Irish manufacturers also increased in price in several other categories.

“Wood and wood products were 38.1% more expensive than this time last year. Basic metals were up 33.0% and other non-metallic mineral products such as glass, ceramics, cement, concrete, and stone rose by 23.2%.

“Mining and quarrying prices also had a large annual increase of 23.7%.”

The news comes as Around 61 million chickens died before slaughter last year as a result of major welfare issues such as infection and heart attacks, as supermarkets such as Morrisons and Co-op continue to source ‘cheap meat’.

Click here to sign up to Grocery Gazette’s free daily email newsletter