Annual food price increase reaches 14-year high of 10.1 percent

Food prices were 10.1 percent higher in October 2022 compared with October 2021, Stats NZ said today.

“This was the highest annual increase since November 2008,” consumer prices senior manager Nicola Growden said.

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

• grocery food prices increased by 9.7 percent
• fruit and vegetable prices increased by 17 percent
• restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food prices increased by 7.5 percent
• meat, poultry, and fish prices increased by 10 percent
• non-alcoholic beverage prices increased by 8.7 percent.

Grocery food was the largest contributor to this movement.

“Increasing prices for barn-raised eggs, cheddar cheese, and two-minute noodles were the largest drivers within grocery food,” Growden 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, bananas, and cabbages.

Monthly food prices rise 0.8 percent

Monthly food prices were 0.8 percent higher in October 2022 compared with September 2022. After adjusting for seasonal effects, they were up 1.8 percent. Fruit and vegetable prices fell 5.2 percent, but after seasonal adjustment rose 1.3 percent.

“Previous patterns of seasonal price movement for fruit and vegetables suggest it’s more typical to see a larger fall in fruit and vegetables for the October month,” Growden said.

The monthly price rise was broad-based, with increases seen in 125 of the 162 items we measure. In October 2021 we only saw price rises in 82 of the items we measure, with the other 80 all falling.

Grocery food contributed the most to the 0.8 percent monthly rise. This was led by rises in the cost of cheddar cheese (6.8 percent), barn-raised eggs (7.4 percent), and potato crisps (3.6 percent).