Food prices in New Zealand increased 0.9 percent year-on-year in July of 2019, after a 0.5 percent rise in the previous month. Prices advanced faster for meat, poultry & fish (5.4 percent vs 2.8 percent in June) and for grocery food (2.1 percent vs 1.8 percent). On the other hand, restaurant meals cost slowed (3.0 percent vs 3.4 percent) while prices continued to decline for fruit & vegetables (-9.3 percent vs -8.8 percent) and non-alcoholic beverages (-1.1 percent vs -0.8 percent). On a monthly basis, food prices went up 1.1 percent, rebounding from a 0.7 percent drop in June. Food Inflation in New Zealand averaged 5.54 percent from 1961 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 25.20 percent in March of 1980 and a record low of -2 percent in June of 2010.
Food Inflation in New Zealand is expected to be 1.80 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Food Inflation in New Zealand to stand at 1.60 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the New Zealand Food Inflation is projected to trend around 1.70 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.