Off-trade wine prices down 9%
The 5.2% annual fall comprised a drop in off-trade prices of 1.8% for spirits, 9.3% for wine and 0.6% for beer while the monthly fall comprised a drop of 2.4% for spirits, 1.4% for wine and a rise of 1.1% for beer.
On-trade prices showed growth of 1.3% in the 12 months since March 2016 and prices level-pegging with February 2017.
The 1.3% annual on-trade growth comprised a 1.8% increase in spirits prices, a 1.4% increase in both wine and in soft drinks & mineral water prices and a 1.1% increase in beer prices.
On a monthly basis, March’s on-trade spirits, wine and beer prices rose 0.1% while soft drinks & mineral water prices level-pegged with February 2017.
Overall prices in restaurants and hotels generally rose by 2.2% in March compared to March 2016 according to the CSO figures which also show that overall alcohol prices have fallen by 0.4% since March 2016.
Overall alcohol prices rose 0.5% over the three-month period January to March but fell slightly (by 0.1%) when compared with February 2017 prices.