Cost of food and gas up in January, with fresh vegetable and fruits up sharply from a year ago

Ottawa – Prices rose in seven of the eight major components on a year-over-year basis in January, with the food and transportation indexes contributing the most to the rise in the Consumer Price Index.

Food prices were up four per cent in the 12 months to January, after rising 3.7 per cent in December, the Statistics Canada report said. This acceleration was attributable to a gain in prices for food purchased from stores, which rose 4.6 per cent year over year in January, after increasing 4.1 per cent the previous month. Prices for fresh vegetables were up 18.2 per cent in the 12 months to January, following a 13.3 increase increase in December.

The other fresh vegetables index, which includes broccoli, cauliflower, celery and peppers among other products, registered its largest year-over-year increase (+22.7 per cent) since April 2009. Meat prices rose less in the 12 months to January than in December. Prices for food purchased from restaurants were up 2.5 per cent year over year in January, following a 2.8 per cent increase the previous month.

In January, gasoline prices were up on a year-over-year basis for the first time since October 2014.

The transportation index rose 2.2 per cent year over year in January, following a 0.6 per cent increase in December. The acceleration was led by the gasoline index, which was up 2.1 per cent in the 12 months to January, after declining 4.8 per cent the previous month. In addition, the purchase of passenger vehicles index was up more on a year-over-year basis in January than the previous month.