KEY POINTS:
Rising costsfruit and vegetable costs were the main cause of a 0.8 per cent rise in food prices last month, says Statistics NZ.
Publishing the food price index today, Statistics New Zealand said the fruit and vegetables subgroup rose 3.6 per cent in January.
Tomatoes were up 49.5 per cent, kiwifruit 48.2 per cent, and mandarins 37.3 per cent.
Partly offsetting those rises were an 11.3 per cent fall in apple prices and a 7.4 per cent fall in potato prices.
The non-alcoholic beverages subgroup was up 2.2 per cent, grocery food rose 0.4 per cent, while restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food were up 0.4 per cent.
The only subgroup to fall in January was meat, poultry and fish, which slipped 0.6 per cent due to a 9.6 per cent drop in the price of lamb.
For the year to January, food prices rose 9.5 per cent. Grocery food was up 10 per cent, meat, poultry and fish rose 11.8 per cent, fruit and vegetables gained 13.4 per cent, restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food 6 per cent, and non-alcoholic beverages were up 6.9 per cent.
Within those subgroups, the most significant contributions to the annual rise were a 20.8 per cent increase in bread prices, and a 6.5 per cent rise in ready-to-eat food.
- NZPA
