Food prices are 6.0% higher than a year ago but were cheaper last month than in October — the third consecutive monthly fall - according to Stats NZ.
Consumer prices manager James Mitchell said higher prices for fresh eggs, lollies and peanuts made grocery food (7.0% increase) the largest contribution to the annual change.
Grocery food was followed by restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food prices (7.5% increase), fruit and vegetable prices (4.8% increase), non-alcoholic beverage prices (5.8% increase), and meat, poultry, and fish prices (2.0% increase).
"Getting a meal from a restaurant or café and grabbing a takeaway has continued to get more expensive," Mitchell said.
Looking at the fall in November, Mitchell said food prices fell 0.2% when compared with October. He said seasonal price falls for tomatoes, capsicums and strawberries had seen the fruit and vegetables group (3.4% decrease) become the largest contributor to the monthly fall.
"We are seeing more food items fall in price than a year ago. In November 2023, 46 per cent of food items fell in price, while in November 2022, 27 per cent of items decreased."
Meanwhile, the cost of a holiday continues to rise, with domestic accommodation prices up 6.2% on October (9.6% on November last year) and air travel up 3.6% in November when compared to October (1.3% increase on November last year).
However, there were falls in the cost of alcohol in November (0.1% decrease compared to October but 5.6% increase on November last year), overseas accommodation and flights (5.2% decrease compared to October but 10.1% increase on November last year; 3.8% decrease compared to October and 15.8% fall compared to November last year), and petrol (2.7% decrease compared to October but 10.7% increase on November last year) and diesel (2.4% decrease compared to October and 11.9% fall compared to November last year).
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