New Zealand’s food prices have seen a modest 4.8 percent year-on-year increase, as announced by the statistics department Stats NZ on Thursday. This marks the lowest annual rise since December 2021.
According to the department, price hikes in all measured food categories contributed to the annual increase in December 2023, as reported by Xinhua news agency.
Restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food prices increased 7.1 per cent; grocery food prices increased 5.4 per cent; non-alcoholic beverage prices increased 5.5 per cent; meat, poultry, and fish prices increased 2.3 per cent; fruit and vegetable prices increased 1.5 per cent, it said.
“The largest contribution to the annual change was restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food, mainly driven by higher prices for dine-in meals and takeaways,” Stats NZ consumers prices manager James Mitchell said.
Food prices experienced a 0.1% decrease in December 2023 compared to November 2023, marking the fourth consecutive monthly decline, according to Mitchell.
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The primary factor behind this decline was non-alcoholic beverages, with prices of carbonated drinks and energy drinks being the main drivers.
He mentioned that additional items contributing to the monthly decline include tomatoes, nectarines, and lamb.
In December 2023, 45 per cent of items fell in price, while in December 2022, 39 per cent of items fell in price, statistics show.
“We are continuing to see more food items fall in price than a year ago,” Mitchell said.
“In the last year, five months have shown a price fall,” Mitchell said, adding the changes in food prices for the last few months are comparable to those before 2020.
