Data
Ireland had 900 mushroom growers in 1990. Now 25 grow almost twice as much, and get a record price for it.
Irish mushroom farms produced a record €179 million worth of mushrooms in 2025, from fewer tonnes than the year before. The price growers get per kilo is up 49% since 2020; the price in the shops is up 21%. We put the official figures side by side, with the working shown.
Mushrooms are Ireland's largest horticultural crop and about half of its horticultural exports. On 22 September, a written Dáil answer on the sector said its estimated farm-gate value rose 13.1% in 2025, and put that value at "€1.8 million". The CSO's agricultural accounts put it at €179.4 million, which fits the 13.1% rise on 2024's €158.6 million. Nobody has yet set that figure against output, prices in the shops, or the number of farms left growing them. We did.
In short
- Irish mushroom output was worth a record €179.4 million at the farm gate in 2025, up 13.1% on 2024, while the crop itself fell 4% to 67,380 tonnes (CSO).
- That works out at about €2.66 a kilo to growers in 2025, up from €1.79 in 2020: +49%. The average shop price rose from €3.64 to €4.42 a kilo: +21% (our calculations from CSO data).
- Set side by side, the farm-gate price was about 60% of the shop price in 2025, up from about 49% in 2020 and under 38% in 2013 (our calculation; an indicator, not a like-for-like price, see below).
- Ireland had 900 mushroom growers in 1990. By 2024 there were 25, on 32 farms, growing 70,145 tonnes, nearly twice the 1990 crop. That is about 2,800 tonnes per grower, against about 41 in 1990 (our calculation).
A record year from a smaller crop
| Year | Farm-gate value | Output | Farm-gate price per kg* |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | €137.0m | 72,000 t | €1.90 |
| 2019 | €119.2m | 68,285 t | €1.75 |
| 2020 | €123.8m | 69,264 t | €1.79 |
| 2021 | €127.7m | 68,207 t | €1.87 |
| 2022 | €129.9m | 65,907 t | €1.97 |
| 2023 | €136.3m | 68,284 t | €2.00 |
| 2024 | €158.6m | 70,145 t | €2.26 |
| 2025 | €179.4m | 67,380 t | €2.66 |
* Our calculation: farm-gate value ÷ output. Sources: CSO table AEA01 (value at current prices, "Crops – Mushrooms") and CSO table AEA02 (quantity), downloaded 19 October 2026. The 2024 result, €2.26, matches the weighted average farm-gate price Teagasc reported for 2024. 2025 figures are the CSO's latest estimates and may be revised.
For most of the last decade the price growers got hardly moved: between €1.74 and €1.90 a kilo every year from 2012 to 2021. It rose to €2.00 by 2023, then jumped 13% in 2024 and another 18% in 2025. The 2025 record came from price, not volume: the crop was 2,765 tonnes smaller than in 2024.
Farm-gate and shop prices, side by side
| Year | Farm-gate €/kg* | Shop price €/kg (CSO average) | Farm-gate as share of shop price* |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | €1.79 | €4.76 | 37.6% |
| 2015 | €1.90 | €4.36 | 43.6% |
| 2020 | €1.79 | €3.64 | 49.1% |
| 2022 | €1.97 | €3.59 | 54.9% |
| 2023 | €2.00 | €4.03 | 49.5% |
| 2024 | €2.26 | €4.35 | 52.0% |
| 2025 | €2.66 | €4.42 | 60.3% |
* Our calculation. Shop price is the average of the twelve monthly national average prices for "Mushrooms per kg" in CSO table CPM12. The average for January to September 2026 is €4.37.
Three cautions about that last column. First, about 80% to 85% of the Irish crop is sold to the UK, so the farm-gate price partly reflects UK prices paid in sterling, while the shop price is the Irish one. Second, the farm-gate figure is a weighted average of everything grown, while the CSO shop price is for one item. Third, these are prices in the year they were paid, not adjusted for inflation. So read the share as a signal of direction, not as what any one grower earns from any one punnet. The direction is clear: since 2020, the price at the farm gate has risen more than twice as fast as the price in the shops.
Fewer farms, bigger crop
| Year | Mushroom growers (Republic of Ireland) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 900 | Fresh Produce Journal, c. 2004 |
| 1996 | 560 | Same |
| 2000 | 504 | Dáil written answer, 20 October 2009 |
| c. 2004 | 240 | Fresh Produce Journal, c. 2004 |
| 2009 | 85 | Dáil written answer, 20 October 2009 |
| 2024 | 25 (on 32 farms) | Teagasc Mushroom E-Bulletin, April 2025 (reported by UMDIS) |
Output went the other way. The CSO puts the 1990 crop at 37,000 tonnes and the 2024 crop at 70,145. That is about 41 tonnes per grower in 1990 and about 2,800 in 2024 (our calculation). The Dáil answer in September said the same thing in words: fewer growers, larger farms, steady output. The Irish Times reported this month that commercial vegetable growers fell from more than 600 in the 1990s to fewer than 70. Mushrooms went further, faster.
What is published, and what is not
| Figure | Published? | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Farm-gate value and output, every year since 1990 | Yes | CSO agricultural accounts |
| Average shop price per kilo, monthly since December 2011 | Yes | CSO national average prices |
| Farm-gate price per kilo | Occasionally, from Teagasc (€2.26 for 2024) | Teagasc Mushroom E-Bulletin |
| Number of growers each year | No regular series; counts appear in Dáil answers and Teagasc bulletins | See table above |
| Split of the crop's value between UK and Irish sales | No; only that 80–85% of production is exported | Dáil written answer, 22 September 2026 |
Questions
- How much are Irish mushrooms worth at the farm gate?
- €179.4 million in 2025, according to the CSO's agricultural accounts, up 13.1% on €158.6 million in 2024. A written Dáil answer on 22 September 2026 gave the figure as €1.8 million; the CSO figure of €179.4 million is the one that matches the 13.1% rise.
- How much do Irish mushroom growers get per kilo?
- About €2.66 a kilo in 2025, calculated from CSO value and output figures, up from €2.26 in 2024 and €1.79 in 2020. Teagasc reported a weighted average farm-gate price of €2.26 for 2024.
- How many mushroom growers are there in Ireland?
- Teagasc counted 25 growers on 32 farms in 2024. There were 900 in 1990, 504 in 2000 and 85 in 2009.
- Where do Irish mushrooms go?
- About 80% to 85% of production is exported to the UK each year, according to the Department of Agriculture.
Method and data
Farm-gate value and output are from CSO tables AEA01 and AEA02 ("Crops – Mushrooms"); the price per kilo is value ÷ output. Shop prices are the CSO's monthly national average price for "Mushrooms per kg" (table CPM12), averaged over each calendar year. All figures are in nominal euro. Every calculation is shown or marked *. Download the full series, 1990 to 2025: irish-mushroom-output-prices-1990-2025.csv.
Sources
- Central Statistics Office, table AEA01: Value at current prices for output, input and income in agriculture ("Crops – Mushrooms"). Downloaded 19 October 2026.
- Central Statistics Office, table AEA02: Quantity of agricultural output ("Crops – Mushrooms"). Downloaded 19 October 2026.
- Central Statistics Office, table CPM12: National average price ("Mushrooms per kg"), monthly. Downloaded 19 October 2026.
- Teagasc Mushroom E-Bulletin 2, April 2025, as reported by UMDIS: "Mushroom output in Ireland 2024", 5 May 2025.
- Dáil Éireann, written answer 480 (Deputy Malcolm Byrne; Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture), 22 September 2026. Reported by Agriland, 27 September 2026.
- Dáil Éireann, written answer 456, 20 October 2009.
- Fresh Produce Journal, "Irish decline mirrors UK", c. 2004.
- The Irish Times, "'Nobody wants to work': Why doesn't Ireland grow more veg?", October 2026.
- UMDIS, reporting Teagasc: "Challenging time for the Irish mushroom industry", 2 May 2025.
Published by Dr. Mush Me, an Irish mushroom supplement company. This page is about cultivated food mushrooms, links to no products and makes no health claims.