Producer Price Index in Ireland

Ireland's Producer Price Index measures the change in factory-gate prices of industrial goods sold by manufacturers, excluding transport, distribution and taxes. Published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), it covers energy, mining and manufacturing, but not construction.

It is compiled from a regular survey of a broad sample of industrial establishments on their selling prices, producing a base-year index (=100) that is periodically rebased. The methodology is harmonised across the EU and is reported as year-on-year and month-on-month changes.

Producer prices are a leading indicator of inflationary pressure: higher production costs tend to feed through to consumer prices with a lag. In Ireland, with an export-heavy, multinational-dominated industrial base, it is also a gauge of competitiveness and margins.

The weight of multinationals and sectors such as pharmaceuticals and technology makes the Irish series unusually volatile and not always representative of the domestic economy. It helps to strip out energy and to allow for revisions.