Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — After a slight decline 0.4% in November, the Basic Food Index (BFI) recorded a 1.1% increase in December 2022 in food prices tracked on Tutuila, according to the report released this week by the ASG Commerce Department’s Statistics Division. 

The BFI reports that twelve out of 20 food commodities contributed to the December increase. The 12 food items with price increases include ramen saimin (9.0%), soda (6.0%), turkey tail (5.2%), rice (4.0%), ice cream (1.3%) mayonnaise (1.7%) taro (1.1%), eggs (1.1%) canned tuna (0.8%), sausage (0.7% and butter (0.7%).

However, three food items dropped in price — chicken legs, fresh fish and bread. Water, pork spare-ribs, bananas, sugar, and corned beef were the only six food commodities that did not change in December.

“Throughout 2022 the overall cost of basic food rose by 13.7% or an average monthly increase of 1.1%,” according to the BFI report, which reiterated that a total of 14 major to mid-sized retail stores have been selected for monitoring basic food costs on Tutuila island — from the far-west side to the far-east side.