Travel writers and bloggers frequently have a crack at prices in New Zealand, often lamenting how expensive the place is to visit.
During the 2011 Rugby World Cup, journalists feverishly wrote of high restaurant and fuel prices, and quibbled over the price of everything from beer (well, they were rugby writers) to fish (I kid you not).
Others are quick to use fast food prices as the guide, and point to Britain’s Economist magazine’s famous Big Mac Index as damning evidence. The latest index shows Kiwis pay more for their McDonald’s burgers than junk food lovers in Britain, the United States and Asia.
But is it fair to label New Zealand an expensive country to visit?
Like beauty, price is in the eye of the beholder.
Around the millennium, when Brits visited New Zealand, they enthused about how cheap everything seemed to be.
However in those days, a pound sterling converted to NZ$4.
A decade of pressure on the pound, and a Kiwi dollar that keeps hitting all-time highs against other currencies, means today’s British holidayer gets only $2, or thereabouts, for every pound of spending money.
So are the New Zealand prices high – or is the buying power of the pound the problem?
New Zealanders themselves often publicly debate whether they should be paying as much for meat and dairy products. After all, the country exports plenty of these products to the rest of the world.
Even when comparisons are made against the strong dollar, indications are that Kiwis are forking out a greater share of their income on food than their international counterparts.
The best-selling Herald on Sunday carried out an investigation of food prices in early 2012, comparing New Zealand, Australia, the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore and South Africa with consumer price index data and 80 off-the-shelf supermarket prices, ordered online.
In raw dollar terms and relative to the median weekly income in each country, the newspaper found New Zealanders faced bigger food bills than many of their overseas counterparts.
Meat, and especially chicken, was found to be more expensive in New Zealand than in the other countries.
Statistics released in December 2011 – the Food Price Index – show the price of meat, poultry and fish increased 3.7% that year.
Auckland University Associate Professor Rhema Vaithianathan helped the Herald on Sunday analyse the prices for the 80 food items, and found pasta, butter, most root vegetables and frozen veges were relatively cheap compared with other countries, as were a dozen beers.
Her analysis showed New Zealanders were often paying more for chicken, baby food, tomato sauce, and basics such as milk, eggs and bread.
Bank economists point out that one of the problems for New Zealanders is that their incomes are also low when compared with other countries.
Another factor is the high cost of distributing goods and produce around a vast country – its landmass is 10% greater than the United Kingdom but has only 4.4 million population.
Still, many writers and bloggers don’t care for the reasons – they just count the spare change in their fanny packs and hit the keyboard.
Visitors to New Zealand’s Arrowtown* are bound to see a few unusual sights . . . relics of the town’s historic gold rush, a few trendy cafes and a prehistoric bird . . .
