New Zealand sees highest monthly food price increase in 5 years

New Zealand's monthly food prices rose 2.7 percent in January this year, the country's statistics department Stats NZ said on Monday.

This is the biggest monthly rise since January 2017 when monthly food prices rose 2.8 percent, Stats NZ said, adding fruit prices were up 2.7 percent and vegetable prices were up 5.9 percent in January.

"Food prices often increase in January. However, prices increased by more than usual this January," consumer prices manager Katrina Dewbery said in a statement.

In January 2021, monthly food prices rose 1.3 percent, and in January 2020 they rose 2.1 percent, Dewbery said.

In January 2022, higher fruit and vegetable prices were the main contributor to the monthly rise, up 9.9 percent. There were higher prices for broccoli, lettuce, apples, strawberries, and kiwifruit. These were partly offset by lower prices for beans, grapes, and courgettes, she said.

The widespread nature of the price rises was also shown by 76 percent of all items increasing in price in January, she added.

Annual food prices were 5.9 percent higher in January this year than they were in January 2021. This is the biggest annual increase since August 2011, when annual food prices increased by 6.6 percent, statistics show.

The main contributor to this increase in January 2022 was higher prices for tomatoes, Dewbery said, adding fruit and vegetable prices were 15 percent higher last month 2022 than they were in January 2021.