RETAIL FOOD PRICES

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27191, 7 November 1953, Page 8

RETAIL FOOD PRICES

INCREASE RECORDED LAST MONTH

POTATO COSTS MAJOR FACTOR

(New Zealand Press Association) W ELLIN GT ON, November 6. Recent high prices for new potatoes and an increase of 6d a dozen in the price of eggs were mainly responsible for a rise of 69 points between September and October in the all-foods group of the consumers’ price index. Details of the index figures for October, issued today by the Census and Statistics Deparment, show that new potato prices are represented by 50 points of theorise. The index numbers of retail food prices for August, September, and October, are as follows (the *first quarter of 1949 equals 1000 points):— Aug. Sept. Oct. Meat and fish .. 1762 1738 1805

and eggs .. 1498 1795 2096 Other foods .. 1368 1369 1369 AH foods .. 1491 1567 1636 An upward movement of two points —from 1405 to 1407—between September and October was recorded in the fuel and lighting group index. The following table shows food index numbers of individual towns for both September and October of this year (the first quarter, 1949, equals 1000 points):— Sept-, Oct., 1953 1953

Auckland .. Wellington 1569 1632 1645 1676 Christchurch .. 1474 1598 Dunedin 1430 1511 Four chief centres .. 1557 1628 Hamilton 1659 1713 Napier 1651 1655 New Plymouth 1577 1650 Palmerston North 1598 1685 Nelson 1546 1645 Invercargill .. .. Six provincial towns .. 1512 1598 1537 1651 Whahgarei 1614 1689 Tauranga 1666 1719 Rotorua 1665 1719 Gisborne 1660 1671 Wanganui 1565 1666 Masterton .. .. 1600 1701 Blenheim 1521 1632 Greymouth 1523 1643 Ashburton 1507 1634 Timaru 1462 1576 Oamaru 1474 1498Eleven other towns .. Twenty-one towns com1574 1653 bined .. 1567 1636