Food prices have posted their biggest annual decline since 1957 according to figures released by Statistics New Zealand.

Prices for all foods fell 2% for the year to June, reclaiming some of the ground swallowed by the 17% increase over the past two years.

Fruit and vegetable prices led the way, despite recent controversy over supermarket price hikes, falling more than 9%, while meat, poultry and fish dropped 3.9%.

HortNZ chief executive Peter Silcock says the big drop for fruit and vege prices doesn’t bode well for growers. 

"The more concerning issue for us, and I guess it reflects back on the discussion over the last week or so about where the whole industry is at, they're showing that when you compare prices 12 months ago with today, fruit and vegetable prices are 9% less than what they were.

"That's a very signifant figure and even [Statistics New Zealand] have said that's biggest drop they've seen since they started compiling those statistics in 1999."

The drop may be a quirk however, Statistics New Zealand says food price inflation could jump back above 10% by next year.