July 14, 2010

New Zealand's food prices see 2% drop

Food prices in New Zealand took a record plunge in the year to June, pushed by a decline in the prices of goods such as meat, poultry and fish.

According to Statistics New Zealand (SNZ), the 2% drop was the biggest yearly decline in food prices since 1957 and pursued a 17% increase in the price of food for the two years to July 2009.

New Zealand poultry, meat and fish plunged 3.9%. Fresh chicken witnessed one of the most noteworthy drops for individual products, which went down 13.5%. Concurrently, the cost of purchasing fresh milk increased 4.4% during the year.

Food prices rose again in the month of June by 1.3%, subsequent to declines of 0.7% and 0.5% in May and April, respectively. The increase was directed by a boost in vegetable prices that swelled 15.9% from May - as winter climate influenced growing conditions.