Food prices surged by 0.8% in April, driving the annual increase up to 3.7%, new figures from Statistics NZ show.
That's the highest rate of annual increase since January 2024.
And the latest monthly edition of Stats NZ's Selected Price Indexes (SPI) also shows that airfares lifted substantially last month in line with school holidays and Easter.
Also included in the latest release of the SPI is, for the first time, electricity and gas prices. Electricity prices increased 2.3% in April 2025 compared with March 2025, while gas prices increased 1.1%.
Slightly better news comes on the rents front, with these showing a monthly increase of just 0.2%, bringing the annual rate of increase down to 3.0%, its lowest since 2021.
The addition of the electricity and gas prices means that the SPI now covers some 46.5% of the components of the accepted measure of inflation, the Consumers Price Index, which comes out quarterly.
For the March quarter the CPI showed an annual rate of increase of 2.5%. The latest SPI release will likely prompt economists to increase their forecasts of the rate of inflation for the current June quarter - although it has to be stressed that prices such as airfares are notoriously volatile and a sharp rise one month can be followed by a similarly large fall the following month.
On the food prices, Stats NZ said higher prices for the grocery food group and the non-alcoholic beverages group contributed most to the annual increase in food prices, up 5.2% and 6.8%, respectively.
"Price increases were widespread, with all five food groups recording an increase," Stats NZ's prices and deflators spokesperson Nicola Growden said.
The fruit and vegetables group increased in price for the first time since January 2024, with prices up 0.2 percent in the 12 months to April 2025.
The price increase for the grocery food group was due to higher prices for milk, butter, and cheese.
“Price increases for dairy products led the increases for April 2025,” Growden said.
Milk and cheese prices increased 15.1% and 24% respectively in the 12 months to April 2025, while butter prices increased 65.3%.
"The average price for 500 grams of butter was $7.42 in April 2025. That’s nearly $3 more expensive than this time last year," Growden said.
The increase in the non-alcoholic beverages group was driven by higher prices for instant coffee, up 21.3% in the 12 months to April 2025.
"Instant coffee prices have increased $1.44 since this time last year. The average cost is now $8.21 per 100g," Growden said.
On the airfares, Growden said prices for international airfares increased 24.7% in April 2025 compared with March 2025, while prices for domestic airfares increased 3.8%.
"The more expensive air travel costs coincided with school holidays and consecutive long weekends throughout April," Growden said.
The increase in international airfares was driven by higher prices for flights to the Pacific Islands, Australia, and Asia.
Here is the detailed SPI information as supplied by Stats NZ:
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