The national average price for a litre of diesel in April 2026 stood at €2.17/L, an increase of 45c/L on the same time last year, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The National Average Prices for selected goods and services for April 2026 also shows that petrol prices increased by 16c to €1.91/L.

The data also shows the national average price for a large (800g) white sliced pan increased by 4 cents to €1.68 in the year to April 2026.

While the same size brown sliced pan decreased by 2 cent in the year.

CSO

Commenting on the National Average Prices, Anthony Dawson, statistician at CSO, noted the price for sirloin steak per kilogramme rose by €2.34 to €21.82/kg.

Dawson noted there were decreases in average prices across a range of foods.

The average cost of 2 litres of full fat milk was down 8 cents tp €2.38, while a pound of butter (454g) butter fell by 38 cents to €4.31. The average price of Irish cheddar per kg decreased by 12 cents.

The average price for 2.5kg of potatoes was down 21 cents to €3.62.

In April 2026, the national average price of a pint of stout in licensed premises was €6.32, up 26 cents in the year, while a pint of lager was €6.75, up 27 cents compared with April 2025.

The national average price of a take-home 50cl can of lager at €2.40 was down 1 cent from April 2025, while a take-home 50cl can of cider at €2.73 was up 4 cents.

Consumer prices

The CSO also confirmed that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 3.7% between April 2025 and April 2026.

This was the highest annual rate of inflation observed in the CPI since January 2024 when the rate of inflation was 4.1%.

When energy and unprocessed food is excluded, the index grew by 2.6% in the 12 months to April 2026.

The divisions with the largest increases in the 12 months to April 2026 were education services (8.9%), housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (8.1%) and clothing and footwear (7.9%).

Food prices in April 2026 were estimated to have risen by 2% in the 12 month period, and increased by 0.4% compared to March 2025.

The CSO noted the collection of prices for April 2026 took place between April 13-23, meaning that some fuel prices were collected before the introduction of additional government measures on fuel costs.