Dairy Price Index Ends Year Mostly Positive Despite December Dips

Chile's Dairy Sector Shows Resilience in 2024

The Dairy Price Index (DPI) for December 2024 exhibited a general decline in prices across most dairy products. However, the annual trend for 2024 wrapped up on a predominantly positive note, as indicated by the data recently published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) through the National Federation of Dairy Producers (Fedeleche).

The report highlighted a notable increase of 0.6% for cheese, while yogurt remained stable with no variation at 0.0%. On the downside, milk powder and dairy desserts recorded declines of -2.3% and -1.9%, respectively. Similarly, butter showed a slight decrease of -0.7%, and liquid milk fell by -0.4%.

Annual Gains amid Monthly Fluctuations

When it comes to the annual variations, there was a rise in dairy desserts (+4.2%), butter (+3.4%), liquid milk (+2.0%), and yogurt (+1.7%). Conversely, milk powder continued its downward trend with a significant decrease of -7.7%. Together with plant-based drinks and eggs, the dairy category saw a 2.9% increase for the entire year.

INE data also showed that the general IPC declined by 0.2% in December 2024, despite annual growth of 4.5% in the general index. Noteworthy were the decreases in the categories of food and non-alcoholic beverages, as well as in recreation and culture, even though there was an increase in restaurants and hotels.