Territorians are spending more on their food shop than the rest of the country

Soaring prices have resulted in Territorians spending more on their food shop than the rest of the country. But the increase hasn’t been passed on to all items.

TERRITORIAN shoppers are spending more on their weekly shop than the rest of the country according to a leading Australian grocery comparison app.

Frugl Grocery, has launched its Grocery Price Index, the first-ever comprehensive analysis of grocery prices in Australian supermarkets.

The data revealed grocery prices increased by 6.75 per cent over the past 12 months across Australia and while the total shopping cost varied minimally across the states the Northern Territory had paid significantly more.

Frugl Grocery said Top End shoppers are sitting 1.6 per cent above the national grocery index average of 100 spending an extra $1.60 for every dollar in their local grocery store.

Meanwhile, Victorians spend 60c less for every dollar – the cheapest of all the states.

Frugl Group managing director and CEO Sean Smith said transportation costs were the cause of surging prices in the Northern Territory.

“There are higher transportation costs as a lot more fresh produce has to be trucked in than in other states,” he said.

Grocery prices jumped 1.05% in the last quarter and Mr Smith said prices could continue to soar for the rest of the year.

“Prices are still historically high compared to this time last year,” he said.

“Suppliers are forewarning they will be increasing their prices so retailers will have no choice but to pass these onto consumers later in the year.

“Households are now looking down the barrel of a potential recession and numerous other

economic challenges, which may require substantial changes to their shopping and consumption habits.”

The Grocery Price Index revealed beef products had the largest price jump in the past 12 months with an increase of 14.60 per cent.

However, Fruit and Vegetables saw the largest increase (7.48 per cent) in the past quarter resulting in an annual jump of 12.97 per cent.

Specifically, broccoli prices saw a massive spike in the past year with an increase of 79.61 per cent followed by lettuce which jumped by 42.86 per cent after a nationwide shortage drove prices sky-high.

The spike in fruit and vegetable costs in the last quarter of the financial year was driven significantly by adverse weather events and fuel price surges according to Frugl.

Despite this, cavendish bananas saw 41.38 per cent price decrease from 0.87 to 0.51, so it may be time to whip out the nutribullet.

The Frugl Grocery Price Index was compiled using data on almost 60,000 products across 5,200 grocery stores to show how different segments of society are affected by pricing changes.

Originally published as Territorians are spending more on their food shop than the rest of the country