supermarket fruit

Inflation figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) have revealed that there has been a large drop in the price of the country's fruit and vegetables through the third quarter of the year.

The news follows last week's revelations by the Coles supermarket chain that prices of fresh produce had fallen by 7.8 per cent at its stores.

Average vegetable prices fell 5.6 per cent with fruit prices down 5.4 per cent for the quarter ended September, according to Australian Food News.

These declining prices were the main drivers for an overall year-on-year food category price reduction of 0.8 per cent, although food prices remained 2.5 per cent more expensive than the same period of 2008.

The ABS said that some fresh produce prices had dropped as a result of seasonal factors.