Domestic households paid an additional NT$2,610 to eat out last year, reflecting higher consumer prices while wages continue to stagnate, government statistics released on Saturday showed.
The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said that dining-out costs rose 3.61 percent year-on-year last year largely because of rising food prices, which grew 3.74 percent from the previous year.
Higher food and dining-out costs made the relatively lower consumer price index (CPI) growth seem insignificant to some consumers.
Last year, CPI rose by just 1.2 percent — the sixth consecutive year it has risen by less than 2 percent — while fuel costs and prices of non-food items, such as communications services and information technology devices, went down.
The DGBAS said that a household that spends NT$60,000 a month paid NT$2,610 more to eat out last year than in 2013.
Among the most popular restaurants in Taiwan, Formosa Chang (鬍鬚張), a traditional Taiwanese cuisine chain, raised the price of its braised pork rice to NT$35 from NT$33 in July.
It was the third price increase for Formosa Chang last year.
PORK HIKES
Many other braised pork rice suppliers also raised their prices to between NT$30 and NT$45 from about NT$25.
According to a recent news report, about 85 percent of people in Taiwan aged from 20 to 65 dined out at least once a day.
The DGBAS said that based on the rigid pricing characteristics of restaurants and eateries, once dining-out costs go up, it is unlikely that consumers would see the prices come down, even when fuel prices fall.
FUEL PRICES
Due to a steep decline in international crude oil prices, household fuel spending fell by about NT$856 last year, the DGBAS said.
The price of a basket of 17 household necessities — including rice, pork, bread, eggs, sugar, cooking oil, shampoo and toilet paper — monitored by the Cabinet rose 5.35 percent last year, its highest rise since 2008, when the price of the items rose 13.65 percent.
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