The average price of agricultural output in the EU decreased by 2.9% in the first quarter (Q1) of 2026 compared with the same quarter in 2025.

This was a slightly higher rate of decline than that of the last quarter of 2025 (-1.7%). 

This information comes from data on agricultural price indices published by Eurostat today (Thursday, June 11).

The average price of agricultural inputs (goods and services consumed in agriculture and not related to investment, such as energy, fertilisers or feeding stuffs) changed little (-0.4%) in Q1 2026.

This continued the relative price stability for these inputs during 2025.

In Q1 2026, the average price of agricultural output showed year-on-year decreases in 19 EU countries.

The sharpest declines were in Belgium (-12.9% compared with Q1 2025), Germany (-11.0%) and Lithuania (-10.8%).

Prices increased in the other eight EU countries, most notably in Malta (+14.8%), Croatia (+8.5%) and Finland (+5.5%).

In terms of the average price of inputs not related to investment, declines were recorded in 14 EU countries, with the sharpest rates being in Germany (-3.8%), the Netherlands (-3.4%), Cyprus and Portugal (both -3.1%).

The other 13 EU countries saw increases, with the sharpest rates being in Lithuania (+16.8%), Romania (+5%) and Ireland (+3.6%).

At EU level, milk and cereal prices decreased by an average 15.5% and by 11.7% respectively in Q1 2026 compared with the same quarter of 2025. 

Among the goods and services consumed in agriculture, the average prices of fertilisers and soil improvers in the EU rose by 6.6% in the same period, while feeding stuffs and energy declined by 4.9% and by 0.6% respectively.

EU agri-food trade surplus 

Meanwhile, the EU agri-food trade surplus increased in February 2026, reaching €4.4 billion.

This represents a 43% increase compared with January and is broadly in line with February 2025 levels, new data from Eurostat shows.

While both exports and imports have declined slightly compared to last year, lower import values contributed to an improvement in the monthly trade balance.

The cumulative EU agri-food trade surplus for January to February totalled €7.4 billion in 2026, remaining stable compared with the same period in 2025.