Annual food price increase grows to 10.7 percent

Food prices were 10.7 percent higher in November 2022 compared with November 2021, Stats NZ said today.

Food prices increased 10.1 percent in October 2022 compared with October 2021.

In November 2022, the annual increase was due to rises across all the broad food categories we measure. Compared with November 2021:

• grocery food prices increased by 10 percent
• fruit and vegetable prices increased by 20 percent
• restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food prices increased by 8.0 percent
• meat, poultry, and fish prices increased by 12 percent
• non-alcoholic beverage prices increased by 7.8 percent.

Grocery food was the largest contributor to this movement.

"Increasing prices for cheddar cheese, yoghurt, and standard two-litre milk were the largest drivers within grocery food," consumer prices manager James Mitchell said.

The second-largest contributor to the annual movement was fruit and vegetables.

The items within this group that influenced this movement the most were potatoes, onions, and bananas.

Monthly change

Monthly food prices were flat in November 2022 compared with October 2022. After adjusting for seasonal effects, they were up 1.0 percent.

"It's typical to see food prices fall in November due to falling fruit and vegetable prices. However, fruit and vegetable prices did not fall as much as in a typical November," Mitchell said.

Fruit and vegetable prices fell 4.7 percent. After adjusting for seasonal effects, fruit and vegetable prices rose 0.9 percent.

All other broad food groups rose in price. A 1.1 percent rise in grocery food was the biggest upwards contributor, led by yoghurt, potato chips, and cheddar cheese.

In November 2022, notable fruit and vegetable price falls were:

• tomatoes (down 42 percent)
• broccoli (down 44 percent)
• strawberries (down 35 percent).

In November 2022, notable fruit and vegetable price rises were:

• onions (up 28 percent)
• potatoes (up 10 percent)
• kiwifruit (up 26 percent).