Putting food on the dinner table this Christmas will cost a dollar or two less than last year.
Statistics New Zealand has estimated the cost of both traditional and barbecue Christmas dinners for a family of two adults and two children.
A traditional dinner in 2009 will cost around $48.80, $1.80 less than Christmas 2008.
Statistics New Zealand says the biggest savings this year should come from a 50-cent reduction in the price of whole chicken, and cheaper kumara.
At 48.80, the cost of a barbecue Christmas dinner this year will cost around the same amount as a traditional dinner, and will be about 90 cents cheaper than last year.
Savings are expected to come from cheaper steak, which costs around 40 cents less, and cheaper potatoes.
However, Statistics New Zealand says the cost of both traditional and barbeque Christmas dinners have risen since 2007. Back then a traditional dinner cost about $45.40 and a barbeque dinner about $46.00.
Driving the price increase has been a rise in the cost of lamb and whole chicken for traditional dinners, and salted peanuts and steak for barbeques.
Compared with a decade ago, a traditional dinner this year costs around $13.50 more and a barbeque dinner around $11.10 more.
As with the last couple of years, this has mainly been the result of higher prices for lamb and whole chicken. For barbeques, the biggest rise over the last 10 years has been price of steak and pavlova.
Latest NZ News Video
-
ONE News Minute 9am update: May 26 (1:00)
-
Kids cough up $14m for Government (1:50)
-
Education ministry 'barbaric' (1:55)
