High food prices becoming ingrained in Australian economy, analyst warns

Australia’s consumer price index fell to a lower-than-expected 2.4% in December, according to the ABS annual figures released on Wednesday, prompting the federal government to declare the ‘worst of the inflation challenge is behind us’. Photograph: Amer Ghazzal/REX/Shutterstock

High food prices are now embedded in the economy, a retail analyst has warned, after new inflation data released on Wednesday.

Egg prices surged 11% last year, and the cost of cooking oil is up 7%; lamb prices have jumped 17%, while shoppers are paying about 6% more for fruit and vegetables. Beer prices have lifted by 4%.