NZ food prices follow seasonal patterns in November increase

Tuesday 20th December 2016

New Zealand food prices rose slightly in November after adjusting for typical seasonal patterns.

Food prices rose 0.3 percent on the month on a seasonally adjusted basis, after a flat result in October and a 0.2 percent fall in September, Statistics New Zealand. On an unadjusted basis, food prices inched down 0.1 percent on the month after seasonally lower prices for vegetables were mostly offset by higher prices for dairy, meat, and fruit.

Cheaper vegetables and more expensive fruit pushed produce prices down 4.3 percent on the month, while grocery items, which account for more than a third of food prices, rose 1 percent, with cheese up 7.9 percent on the month. Meat, poultry and fish prices increased 0.5 percent, while non-alcoholic beverage prices rose 0.7 percent.

The food price index accounts for about 19 percent of the consumers price index, which is the Reserve Bank's mandated inflation target when setting interest rates. Tuesday’s data showed food prices rose 0.6 percent in the year through November, reflecting higher prices for vegetables, dairy, and ready-to-eat-food.

The CPI increased at a 0.4 percent annual pace in the September quarter, the eighth straight quarter below the Reserve Bank's 1-to-3 percent target band.

The consumers price index for the December quarter will be released on Jan. 19 next year, when the Reserve Bank expects it will have returned back within the target band.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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