Dairy and meat lovers are the biggest losers as food prices rise again
Food prices have steadily increased in March, with the monthly change driven by higher prices for grocery food and non-alcoholic beverages.
According to the latest Stats NZ Selected Price Index, monthly food prices increased by 0.5% in March compared with a 0.5% monthly decrease in February.
But on an annual basis, food prices were 3.5% higher than in March 2024.
Grocery food and non-alcoholic beverages had the biggest monthly impact on food price in March 2025, up 0.9% and 1.1%, respectively.
Higher prices for chocolate and yoghurt drove the increase in grocery food prices, while higher prices for instant coffee and soft drinks drove the increase in non-alcoholic beverage prices.
On an annual basis, butter prices are more expensive by 63.6% compared to March 2024, cheese is up by 20.4%, and milk is more expensive by 16%.
Stats NZ prices and deflators spokeswoman Nicola Growden said “The average price for a 250g block of chocolate was $5.99 in March 2025, that’s $1.60 more expensive than three years ago”.
Monthly fruit and vegetable prices fell by 0.3% compared with February, and were down 2.7% compared to March 2024, still the only food group to record lower prices compared to 2024.
Tomatoes and cabbage had the largest monthly price shifts, with their weighted average retail price up by 15.2% and 12.1% respectively.
Meat, poultry and fish prices were virtually flat for the month, growing by 0.1%, but on an annual basis they remain high, up by 5.3% compared to March 2024.
Likewise, restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food remained steady, also increasing by 0.1% for the month.
Alcohol monthly prices grew slightly in March, up by 0.2%, while monthly tobacco prices fell by 0.1%.
Monthly petrol prices fell in March, dropping by 2.1%, and are now 6.2% cheaper than in March 2024.
Monthly diesel prices were down by 2.3%. Annually, diesel prices were down by 10.6%.
Domestic air travel prices rose in March by 2.2%, while international air transport prices fell by 4% compared to February.
Domestic accommodation service prices fell 2.9% in March but international accommodation services increased by 8.8%.
After a few months of delay, Stats NZ has also been able to reveal the changes in rental prices.
The stock measure grew by 0.3% monthly, now 3.3% more expensive compared to last year.
The stock measure shows rental price changes across the whole rental population, including renters currently in tenancies.
The flow measure of rents captures rental price changes only for dwellings that have a new tenancy started in the reference month.
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Poll: Are our Kiwi summer holidays helping us recharge, or holding the economy back? ☀️🥝
There’s growing debate about whether New Zealand’s extended Christmas break (and the slowdown that comes with it) affects productivity.
Tracy Watkins has weighed in ... now it’s your turn. What’s your take? 🤔
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72.9% We work hard, we deserve a break!
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16.1% Hmm, maybe?
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11% Yes!
Secure your homes over summer
Police are reminding people to keep their homes secure during the summer months.
Inspector Glenda Barnaby, Christchurch Area Prevention manager, says daytime burglaries are just as common as nightime burglaries.
“Burglaries can be committed at any time of the day, and coming into warmer months there is more opportunity for thieves."
"Although a majority of burglaries involve forced entry through windows and doors, we are starting to see more incidents at insecure premises. Police deal with cases where burglaries are committed in broad daylight, sometimes even while the victim is at home. Good weather means open doors and windows, which makes homes more vulnerable to burglars.”
Inspector Barnaby says there’s a few things people can do to reduce their changes of a burglary being committed.
⚠️ If you’re going outside for gardening, relaxing in the sun, or working in the garage, take a moment to lock your doors and secure your windows first.
⚠️ Do the same at night when you go to bed - keep your doors and windows secure and close your curtains. Fitting window stays means you can get a breeze coming through, while keeping your windows secure.
⚠️ Get to know your neighbours - let them know if you’re going away and look out for one another.”
If you see any suspicious activity, people or vehicles in your neighbourhood, don't hesitate to contact Police.
If you witness or suspect any illegal activity, please call 111 if it is happening now, or make a report through 105 either online or over the phone, if it is after the fact.
What sectors are barely paying more than minimum wage?
While New Zealand might have about a dozen sectors paying at least a median $100,000 a year, there are almost as many paying barely more than the minimum wage.
Data compiled by Infometrics showed the median and mean salaries across industries throughout the country.
The data does not adjust for hours worked, and some of the workers may not be working a 40-hour week.
But it shows that on an annual basis, many sectors were not delivering incomes that were equal to the minimum wage.
The minimum wage of $23.50 an hour works out to just under $49,000 a year for a full-time, 40-hour a week worker.
Fuel retailing was paying a median of almost exactly the same amount.
Food retailing was paying less, at $45,030. Accommodation was slightly more, at $49,240, and food and beverage services was significantly less at $40,170.
Also within $10,000 of minimum wage were "other store-based retailing" at $53,220, sport and recreation services at $53,350 and personal and other services at $54,170.
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment data last year showed that about 141,900 people would be directly affected by the minimum wage rising to $23.50, indicating they were at that point being paid less than that amount per hour.
Infometrics principal economist Nick Brunsdon said skills and experience explained a lot of the variation in incomes.
"Industries that need a more skilled workforce generally pay more - because they can get a lot of value out of their workers, and workers need a good incentive to gain those skills - for example, medicine. Industries that take in a lot of lower qualified staff, like hospitality, can get away with paying a lot less, and still get plenty of job applicants.
"There are other factors like desirability - some jobs might not have a high skill requirement but are somewhat undesirable - say underground coal mining - so higher pay is necessary to find workers."
CTU policy director and economist Craig Enney said "hours adequacy" was a big problem in many sectors.
"You've got someone who's working 20 hours a week or 25 hours, on $25 an hour, so you're earning $500 a week. Is that enough? No.
"The challenge is often about the structure of employment in some of those sectors…In hospo, in retail, in catering, in a range of other sort of service-based industries, it's wanting more hours and not getting it."
The latest labour market statistics showed the the number of underutilised people in the country had risen to 403,000.
"These are people who want more hours, want more work and can't get it. And that may be a key reason why, you know, total incomes are so inadequate for some people. And that's also partially helping to explain why the headline unemployment rate is not rising as quickly as some people had predicted."
Jake Lilley, a spokesperson for financial mentor network Fincap, said it was something mentors dealt with.
"They also help people work out what is realistic in terms of taking on hours while balancing additional childcare costs. Our latest Voices reporting recorded 31 percent of those supported by a financial mentor as having a mix of income from salary or wages as well as income support.
"It is a real juggle to navigate finances when unpredictable sporadic hours of work need reporting to Work and Income in what can be impractical timeframes. An example might be someone being asked to stay on for a longer shift by their manager and being unable to contact Work and Income when that day is the deadline to report other income.
"Someone might also not know exactly what their pay will be until a payslip is provided after the reporting date. Such situations can often result in overpayment debts from Work and Income compounding the difficulty of administering already tight finances."
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