June 11, 2010

New Zealand meat prices dip by 0.7%

Food prices for meat, poultry and fish fell slightly to 0.7% in May - the first annual fall for almost six years, Statistics New Zealand says.

It was the first annual fall in food prices since the year to July 2004. For the year to May, prices fell for meat, poultry, and fish (down 4.5%).

Meat, poultry, and fish prices have returned to levels last seen in September 2008 and are 7.1% lower than their peak in 2009. The 0.7% fall in food prices in the May 2010 month followed a 0.5% fall in April and a 0.2% rise in March.

"Food prices are back down to levels last seen in 2008 and are now 3.8% below their peak in July last year," Statistics New Zealand's prices manager Chris Pike said.