Restaurant and ready-to-eat meal prices increased by 6.4 percent for the period March 2023 to March 2024 according to figures released by Stats NZ, with alcohol and tobacco increasing by 7.5 percent for the same period.
Food prices, however, increased just 0.7 percent in the 12 months to March 2024, the smallest increase since April 2021, Stats NZ reports.
The 0.7 percent increase followed a 2.1 percent increase in the 12 months to February 2024, and is lower than the 12.1 percent increase recorded in the 12 months to March 2023.
Stats NZ says the smaller annual increase was due to cheaper prices for fruit and vegetables, down 13.3 percent in the 12 months to March 2024.
“The annual decrease in fruit and vegetable prices was the largest recorded since the series began in 1999,” Consumer Prices Manager James Mitchell said.
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