WELLINGTON, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Food prices in New Zealand fell 0.9 percent in October 2021 compared with September 2021, mainly influenced by lower prices for fruit and vegetables, non-alcoholic beverages, and meat, poultry, and fish, the country's statistics department Stats NZ said on Thursday.

October's movement was the first monthly fall since February 2021, when prices also fell 0.9 percent, Stats NZ said.

Fruit and vegetable prices fell 5.9 percent in October, with lower prices for tomatoes, iceberg lettuce, capsicums and cucumbers. These falls were partly offset by rising prices for kiwifruit, broccoli and carrots, it said.

Although the weighted average price of tomatoes was down from the price in September, tomato prices are still 47 percent higher than they were in October 2020, consumer prices manager Katrina Dewbery said.

Lettuce, capsicum, and cucumber prices were also all higher than they were in October last year, Dewbery said.

Meat, poultry, and fish prices fell 0.4 percent in October, with lower prices for chicken pieces and roasting pork, she said.

These falls were partly offset by restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food prices. Grocery food prices were flat, she said.

Annually, food prices increased 3.7 percent in October 2021, mainly due to higher prices for restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food, fruit and vegetables, and grocery food, statistics showed.

October's annual movement was slightly lower than September's 4-percent increase, but still higher than the average annual increase over the last year of 2.3 percent, Dewbery said. Enditem

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