New Zealand food prices up 4.5 pct annually

WELLINGTON, March 17 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's food prices rose by 4.5 percent in the year to February 2026, following a 4.2-percent annual rise recorded in January, Stats NZ reported Tuesday.

The meat, poultry and fish group saw the largest annual increase, up 7.5 percent, followed by fruit and vegetables, which jumped 9.4 percent annually, said the statistics department.

Some items, however, became cheaper over the year, with olive oil prices down 22.1 percent and fresh eggs down 6.2 percent.

On a monthly basis, food prices fell 0.1 percent in February compared with January, led by lower grocery, fruit and vegetable prices, Stats NZ said.

Domestic and international airfares increased in the 12 months to February 2026, up 10.6 percent and 1.8 percent respectively, the largest annual increase in domestic airfares in February since 2023, Growden said.

Stats NZ apologized for a "human error" overstating January 2026 food price rises as 2.5 percent monthly, instead of the correct 2.1 percent, inflating the annual figure to 4.6 percent, rather than 4.2 percent. The error arose from incomplete supermarket scanner data for one provider. Enditem