Comparing last month's prices with March 2023 prices, all dairy products fell in price on year, according to figures released by the Estonian Institute of Economic Research (EKI).

The cost of a liter of bagged milk dropped by a quarter, from €0.89 last March to €0.67 on average last month. Milk in cartons, however, didn't decrease at nearly the same rate, falling from €1.24 to €1.20 on year, or by just 3 percent. Milk prices also remained steady on month.

Sour cream has gotten cheaper over the past year as well, falling 14 percent from €3.67 in March 2023 to €3.16 last month, as well as by 9 cents since February.

On year, 10 percent coffee cream fell by 9 percent from €2.71 to €2.47 per liter in March, while bagged kefir was 8 percent, small packages of butter 6 percent and cheese 5 percent cheaper on year.

More expensive eggs

Both import and domestic eggs, meanwhile, have gotten more expensive on year. Among domestic eggs, the price of a ten-count carton of medium eggs went up the most, from €2.57 last March to €2.75 last month; of import eggs, large eggs saw the biggest price increase, from €2.47 to €2.64 per carton on year.

The only category of eggs to see a decrease in price last month was medium import eggs, which decreased by 5 cents on year.

Compared with February, domestic egg prices nonetheless decreased somewhat, going down an average of 3 cents per carton, however import egg prices simultaneously went up by a couple of cents per carton last month.

Among grains and bakery goods, the most prominent change on year was the drop in the price of wheat flour, which fell 16 percent from €1.38 per kilogram last March to €1.16 per kilo last month.

White bread went down 6 percent and oatmeal 3 percent since last March, however, the price of rye bread went up instead, rising from €2.85 to €2.94 per kilo on year. Rye bread was nonetheless cheaper in March than it was in February, but only by 3 cents.

Major fluctuations in sugar prices, meanwhile, are now a thing of the past. This March, a kilogram of sugar cost €1.34, falling by 2 cents on year and 1 cent on month.

Meat getting more expensive too

According to last month's figures, the prices of meat products are slowly on the rise. The biggest spike in price on year was recorded for import broiler meat, which, while remaining unchanged on month, went up nearly 28 percent from €3.06 per kilogram last March to €3.91 per kilo last month.

Ground meat – specifically 50/50 ground beef and pork – went up 5 and franks 4 percent on year, however, the price of cooked sausage jumped 13 percent – from €5.92 to €6.69 per kilo. Beef and domestic broiler prices saw 2-3 percent increases on year last month as well.

Over the past month, pork prices no longer rose at the same clip as before. Pork chops rose 6 cents from €8.74 per kilo last March to €8.80 last month, while boneless pork went up 9 cents on year. The price of pork ribs, meanwhile, fell 2 percent or by 18 cents on year.

Compared with February, meat prices remained largely unchanged. The biggest price decrease was for boneless pork, which fell nearly 4 percent on month, followed by boneless beef with a 3 percent drop. Smoked pork chops, however, went up slightly on month, from €11.98 per kilo in February to €12.33 per kilo in March.

Fish prices fluctuate more than those of other food prices, and are thus tracked both at markets and in supermarkets, between which shoppers can encounter major price differences.

In supermarkets, the biggest increase in price on year – a full 43 percent – was seen for chilled whole Baltic herring, which jumped from €3.06 per kilo last March to €4.37 per kilo last month.

Meanwhile, however, trout and trout fillet prices fell 18 percent and pike perch fillet by one-fourth compared with March 2023, while salmon and salmon fillet prices remained effectively unchanged on year.

At the same time, nearly all varieties of fish went up in price at markets. Among them, the price of trout fillet increased 24 percent and chilled trout 12 percent since last March; chilled Baltic herring likewise went up 14 and chilled perch 16 percent on year.

Vegetable prices low, but changing

In the vegetable category, price changes on year and on month may be significant percentage-wise, however as the actual prices are largely low, then these fluctuations nonetheless often translate into differences of just a few cents either way.

Thus the biggest drop in price this March was seen on cabbage, which fell by a fifth on year – from €0.51 to €0.40 per kilogram. Carrot prices, meanwhile, went up by a fifth, from €1.23 per kilo last March to €1.47 per kilo last month.

Potato prices remained largely unchanged on year, increasing from €0.92 per kilogram last March to €0.93 per kilo this February and €0.96 per kilo this March.

Over the past year, the price of imported cucumbers rose to €5.37 per kilo last month, up by a quarter from €4.30 in March 2023. Domestic cucumbers, meanwhile, dropped from €6.36 last March to €5.81 last month, and the price of imported tomatoes fell by one-fifth on year as well.

A kilogram of domestic Estonian apples dropped 34 percent on year, from €4.36 last March to €3.36 last month. Import apples, meanwhile, went up 12 percent, from €1.90 to €2.13 per kilogram.

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