Food prices increased 4.1% in the 12 months to September, the smallest annual increase since April.
According to Stats NZ figures out today, the grocery food group contributed the most to the annual increase – up 3.9% – while meat, poultry and fish jumped 6.4%, and fruit and vegetables jumped 5.8%.
Although food prices had increased, the rate of increase had slowed, with the 4.1% increase the smallest since April this year.
The 12 months to August and July both saw 5% increases.
Food prices decreased 0.4% in the September month.
The foods driving up the cost of your supermarket shop – Watch on TVNZ+
Drilling down into the numbers, it was bad news for coleslaw lovers. Cabbage was at its highest price in three years, having gone from $2.97/kg to $5.85, which represented a 97% jump, prices and deflators spokesperson Nicola Growden said.
Lettuce was $6.75/kg, a 55% increase on the same time last year.
Other kitchen staples such as eggs (14.4%), milk (15.1%), beef mince (17.7%), butter (28.9%), cheese (31.4%), and white bread (49.6%) all had double digit jumps.
“All five food groups continue to grow annually but the rate of increase for overall food prices has slowed this month,” Growden said.
“The price of white bread increased by 69 cents per loaf since December 2024.”
A journey overseas won’t escape price increases either as it was also revealed international airfares were up 6.9% in the 12 months to September. Domestic tickets also had increased by 2.1%.
“This is the largest annual increase in airfares, in a September month, since 2021,” Growden said.
“The increases for both domestic and international airfares means travellers experienced higher prices during the school holidays.”
