How much have grocery prices gone up?
Annual price changes among the tracked groceries ranged from −23.1% for tomatoes, 1kg to 40.3% for potatoes, 1kg (Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa, Aug 2026).
Updated
Monthly average prices paid for a basket of common grocery items, from Stats NZ's Food Price Index survey (weighted average prices across stores and brands). Most items from mid-2006.
Average prices across brands and stores, weighted by Stats NZ. Not a price at any particular supermarket. Seasonal items (tomatoes, bananas) swing a lot from month to month.
An annual price change compares prices with the same period a year earlier. Each household buys a different mix of goods and services, so its own cost increase can differ from the national basket.
Read the period beside each number before comparing it with another figure. A monthly observation, a quarterly result and a financial year cover different spans of time. The latest release can also revise earlier observations. The chart and downloads keep the published periods so you can check which figures are being compared. A change in grocery prices describes what happened during that period; it does not by itself explain why it happened or identify the effect of a government policy. Definitions and coverage matter as much as the size of a change.
Milk, standard homogenised, 2 litres was $4.72 in Aug 2025, a year earlier.
The earliest observation on the same basis was $3.05 in Jun 2006.
Grocery prices: definitions
Monthly average prices paid for a basket of common grocery items, from Stats NZ's Food Price Index survey (weighted average prices across stores and brands). Most items from mid-2006.
- Average prices across brands and stores, weighted by Stats NZ. Not a price at any particular supermarket.
- Seasonal items (tomatoes, bananas) swing a lot from month to month.
- Prices are not adjusted for inflation.
Show the figures
| Period | Milk, standard homogenised, 2 litres (NZ$) |
|---|---|
| Aug 2026 | $5.09 |
| Jul 2026 | $5.12 |
| Jun 2026 | $5.04 |
| May 2026 | $5.06 |
| Apr 2026 | $4.86 |
| Mar 2026 | $4.80 |
| Feb 2026 | $4.80 |
| Jan 2026 | $4.81 |
| Dec 2025 | $4.92 |
| Nov 2025 | $4.91 |
| Oct 2025 | $4.78 |
| Sep 2025 | $4.72 |
| Aug 2025 | $4.72 |
| Jul 2025 | $4.70 |
| Jun 2025 | $4.57 |
| May 2025 | $4.57 |
| Apr 2025 | $4.57 |
| Mar 2025 | $4.57 |
| Feb 2025 | $4.55 |
| Jan 2025 | $4.54 |
Calendar months. Source: Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa. Lines break at basis changes and missing periods.
Grocery prices: questions for your AI
Download the data, attach it in your assistant, then paste the prompt.
The attached CSV is Average prices of everyday groceries, from Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa. Answer: How much have grocery prices gone up? Name the unit and period. Use only directly supported observations. Definitions: Monthly average prices paid for a basket of common grocery items, from Stats NZ's Food Price Index survey (weighted average prices across stores and brands). Most items from mid-2006. Limits: Average prices across brands and stores, weighted by Stats NZ. Not a price at any particular supermarket. Seasonal items (tomatoes, bananas) swing a lot from month to month. Prices are not adjusted for inflation.
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Grocery prices: sources
The source publication, licence and snapshot used to build this page.
- Organisation
- Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa, Selected price indexes (monthly)
- Licence
- Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). This work is based on Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
- Reuse limits
- Photos, graphics and logos are excluded. Stats NZ logos and government emblems must not be used.
- Snapshot
- data/raw/statsnz-selected-prices/2026-10-10_40d16d35fc10.csv
- SHA256
- 40d16d35fc107e8d9225698e95ffb9044a6ebcaad2bd83d7aa44b4cd52bc790c
- Retrieved
- 10 October 2026