Wellington, Feb 14 (IANS): New Zealand's monthly food prices rose 2.7 per cent in January this year, this highest monthly rise since 2017, the country's statistics department Stats NZ said on Monday.

This is the biggest monthly rise since January 2017 when monthly food prices rose 2.8 per cent, Stats NZ said, adding fruit prices were up 2.7 per cent and vegetable prices were up 5.9 per cent last month, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Food prices often increase in January. However, prices increased by more than usual this January," consumer prices manager Katrina Dewbery said in a statement.

In January 2021, monthly food prices rose 1.3 per cent, and in January 2020 they rose 2.1 per cent, Dewbery said.

In January 2022, higher fruit and vegetable prices were the main contributor to the monthly rise, up 9.9 per cent. There were higher prices for broccoli, lettuce, apples, strawberries, and kiwifruit. These were partly offset by lower prices for beans, grapes, and courgettes, she said.

The widespread nature of the price rises was also shown by 76 per cent of all items increasing in price in January, she added.

Annual food prices were 5.9 per cent higher in January this year than they were in January 2021. This is the biggest annual increase since August 2011, when annual food prices increased by 6.6 per cent, statistics show.

The main contributor to this increase in January 2022 was higher prices for tomatoes, Dewbery said, adding fruit and vegetable prices were 15 per cent higher last month 2022 than they were in January 2021.