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New Zealand's food prices were 10.3 per cent higher in January 2023 than they were in the same period of 2022, with grocery food being the largest contributor to this movement, the statistics department Stats NZ said on Tuesday.

In January 2023, the annual increase was due to rises across all the broad food categories measured. Compared with January 2022, grocery food prices increased by 11 per cent, restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food increased by 8.3 per cent, and fruit and vegetable prices increased by 16 per cent, Xinhua news agency reported, citing Stats NZ.

"Increasing prices for cheddar cheese, barn or cage-raised eggs, and potato chips were the largest drivers within grocery food," Stats NZ consumer prices manager James Mitchell said.

The second-largest contributor to the annual movement was restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food, Mitchell said.

Monthly food prices rose 1.7 per cent in January 2023 compared with December 2022, statistics show.