KEY POINTS:
Lower prices for grocery food and for fruit and vegetables were the main contributors to a 0.5 per cent fall in food prices during December.
Food Price Index (FPI) data published today by Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) show the grocery food subgroup fell 0.8 per cent during the month, driven by a 6.1 per cent fall in the price of potato crisps, and a 3.5 per cent fall in the price of chocolate.
A 1.9 per cent fall in the price of fruit and vegetables was led by a 35.3 per cent fall in the price of tomatoes, and a similar sized fall in the price of cabbages.
The fall in December prices followed increases of 0.1 per cent in November and 0.3 per cent in October.
In the year to December, food prices increased 2.7 per cent, following increases of 3.8 per cent and 4 per cent for the years to November and October, respectively.
The biggest annual subgroup rise was in fruit and vegetables, which was up 12.9 per cent.
Restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food was up 3.1 per cent for the year; meat, poultry and fish up 1.6 per cent; grocery food up 0.5 per cent; and non-alcoholic beverages up 0.1 per cent.
The FPI data came out at the same time as the Consumers Price Index (CPI), which fell 0.2 per cent in the December quarter.
After cheaper petrol, a 13.2 per cent fall in the price of vegetables was an important factor in the CPI's quarterly fall.
But pushing the CPI the other way was a 16.6 per cent quarterly rise in the price of fruit.
- NZPA
