Food prices down slightly in April

Food prices fell 0.8 per cent last month from March, helped by lower prices for potato crisps, fresh chicken and potatoes.

Releasing the latest food price index today, Statistics New Zealand said that for the year to April food prices had risen by 1.9 per cent. That followed a 1.8 per cent increase in the year to March and a 1.1 per cent rise for the year to February.

The fall in prices last month followed a 1.1 per cent increase in March and a 0.9 per cent fall in February.

The most significant falls in April were potato crisps down 8.2 per cent, fresh chicken down 5.4 per cent and potatoes down 11.9 per cent.

Most significant rises were tomatoes up 19.3 per cent and soft drinks up 2.3 per cent.

For the year to April, most significant movements were ready-to-eat food up 3.4 per cent, poultry down 4.2 per cent, chocolate confectionery down 5.1 per cent and bananas down 11.9 per cent.

Subgroup movements over the year (with monthly change in brackets) included grocery food, soft drinks and confectionery up 1.5 per cent (down 0.8 per cent); restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food up 2.6 per cent (up 0.2 per cent); meat, fish and poultry up 1.6 per cent (down 1.6 per cent); and fruit and vegetables up 2.3 per cent (down 1.4 per cent).

- NZPA