Source: Statistics New Zealand
Error notification: Food price index (FPI) for January 2026 – news story
17 March 2026
Stats NZ has corrected the January 2026 food price index (FPI) after the discovery of an error. Food price data is published each month in the selected price indexes release.
- Stats NZ previously stated food prices were up 2.5 percent in January 2026 compared with December 2025. The correct increase was 2.1 percent.
- From 10.45am today, the corrected food price data will be available in Infoshare and in Selected price indexes: February 2026 on the Stats NZ website.
- The issue does not impact the quarterly consumers price index (CPI).
- Stats NZ apologises to our affected customers.
The Stats NZ team identified the error last week when preparing for the release of February data.
The error occurred because the January 2026 FPI calculations did not include all the supermarket scanner data for the month. Specifically, for one supermarket data provider only 18 of the 31 days were included. This was due to human error.
As a result, the previously published food price movements have been corrected.
In the 17 February 2026 publication, the monthly percentage change was 0.4 percentage points higher than it should have been. Stats NZ previously stated food prices were up 2.5 percent in January 2026 compared with December 2025. The correct increase is 2.1 percent.
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The biggest impact of the error was on prices for chocolate (blocks), muesli and cereal bars, chicken pieces, coffee (ground) and desserts (frozen).
From 10.45am today, the corrected food price data will be available in Infoshare and in Selected price indexes: February 2026 on the Stats NZ website.
No impact on other releases
The quarterly CPI calculation is not affected by the error in the January 2026 FPI.
The error has no impact on the upcoming releases of balance of payments and international investment position and gross domestic product.
Making this correction to the January 2026 FPI is important, as this data allows decision-makers and the public to be correctly informed about food prices.
Stats NZ recognises the impact of our error
The data and insights provided by Stats NZ are critical to New Zealand policy and decision-makers.
“We are acutely aware of the importance of robust indicators and apologise to our customers for this error,” says Government Statistician and Stats NZ Chief Executive Colin Lynch.
“The reliability of economic statistics is something Stats NZ takes very seriously. The people of New Zealand must be able to have confidence in our data and insights.”
A review into the error is underway. Stats NZ is also prioritising work to modernise its technology and systems to support production of robust economic data.
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Visit our website to read the full news story:
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Ngā mihi,
Publishing
Stats NZ
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MIL OSI
LiveNews: https://livenews.co.nz/2026/03/18/error-notification-food-price-index-fpi-for-january-2026-stats-nz-news-story/