Reference

NZ Food Price Index 2026

Last updated: May 2026 (latest data: March 2026)

3.4%

Annual Food Inflation (Mar 2026)

+7.5%

Meat, Poultry & Fish

Monthly

Stats NZ Release

The Food Price Index (FPI) measures how the price of food changes over time in New Zealand. Stats NZ publishes it monthly, tracking five groups: fruit and vegetables; meat, poultry and fish; grocery food; non-alcoholic beverages; and restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food. Food is one of the biggest swings in the household budget, so the FPI is a good gauge of cost-of-living pressure.

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Annual Food Price Change by Group (to March 2026)

Group	Annual change
All food	+3.4%
Meat, poultry and fish	+7.5%
Fruit and vegetables	+9.4%
Grocery food	Moderate
Restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food	Moderate
Non-alcoholic beverages	Moderate

Source: Stats NZ - Food Price Index. Annual food prices rose 3.4% in the year to March 2026, easing from 4.5% in February. Figures are released monthly.

Recent Annual Food Inflation

Month	Annual change
March 2026	+3.4%
February 2026	+4.5%
January 2026	+4.2%

How the Food Price Index Works

Each month Stats NZ collects thousands of prices for a representative basket of food items from supermarkets, greengrocers, butchers and restaurants. The FPI is one of the major inputs into the quarterly Consumers Price Index (CPI), the official measure of overall inflation. Meat and fresh produce tend to be the most volatile groups, swinging with seasons, weather and export demand.

Source: Stats NZ - Food Price Index. See also our NZ CPI and Inflation reference.

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