New Zealand’s food prices were 6.6 percent higher in June than a year earlier, the country’s statistics agency Stats NZ said on Wednesday.
The increase in food prices in June was attributed to rises across all the broad food categories measured, with grocery food prices increasing by 7.6 percent from June 2021, which is the largest hike among all categories, Stats NZ said.
“Increasing prices for milk, potato crisps, and yoghurt were the largest contributors within grocery food,” consumer prices manager Fiona Smillie said in a statement.
The second-largest contributor to the June price hike was restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food. The items within this group that influenced this movement the most were eat-in restaurant meals, she said.
Data showed New Zealand’s food prices were 1.2 percent higher in June compared with May, with fruit and vegetable prices being the largest contributor to the monthly movement due to seasonal factors.
“We typically see price rises for many vegetables in winter due to seasonal effects,” Smillie said. ■
