Analysis from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has found that Irish prime beef prices are now higher than those in Great Britain.
After reaching its widest gap in February of this year, the price differential between Great Britain and Irish prime beef has closed in the last few months.
AHDB said that both GB and Irish prime cattle prices had seen “exceptional growth” in the early part of 2025. It found that GB prices had “fallen away quite steeply” before appearing to have stabilised in recent weeks, with smaller falls followed by a price rally in the Irish market.
As a result, Irish prime prices have sat above the GB equivalent for four weeks, and the last time that the prices intersected was in May/June of 2022, when Irish prices sat higher than GB prices for five weeks.
Tightness in supply
AHDB found that the “major driver” of the recent strength in Irish beef prices had been tightness in supply. It went on to say that weekly prime kill had fallen “significantly” in recent weeks, with throughput down 19% year on year in the four weeks ending 25th August.
It attributed the tightness in supply to strong prices and demand for cattle, which saw higher than forecast kills in the early part of 2025.
Data from H1 2025 showed that Irish export volumes to the UK, France and Netherlands had undergone a year-on-year increase, while the Irish beef herd experienced a longer-term structural decline. This caused a reduction in available supplies, and as of 1st July 2025, the Irish beef herd stood at 4.12 million head, a 3% fall on the year.
Looking ahead, AHDB said that higher Irish prices and lower supply may limit the volume of Irish imports into the UK, and said that seasonally it expected “some uptick in beef demand” heading into Q4 as schools return and Christmas procurement approaches.
It stated that inflationary pressures may keep demand subdued compared to previous years but warned that how price inflation in beef is managed across British and Irish lines would be “crucial to maintaining volume sales”.
Bord Bia, which oversees the promotion of Irish food, has forecast a 5% year-on-year decline in Irish prime cattle supply for 2025, and with higher kills already seen in the early part of the year, it is expected that contraction will be “felt more strongly” in the coming months.
