The cost of living comfortably as retired couple rose 0.3 per cent over the December quarter to $53,879 a year, according to data from the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA).

The ASFA Retirement Standard data shows that a couple leading a modest retirement lifestyle will need $30,708 a year.

The increase is caused by higher food, alcohol, tobacco, transportation and domestic holiday prices.

On a quarterly basis, retirees faced a 2.2 per cent increase in the cost of food, but over the full calendar year, the increase was a more modest 2.5 per cent.

The prices of alcohol and tobacco were up by 0.8 per cent  over the quarter and by a substantial 11.4 per cent over the year due to a large increase in the excise on tobacco.

But the cost of health services, clothing and footwear, and home audio, visual and computing equipment decreased over the quarter.

The cost of health services decreased by 1.2 per cent over the quarter, largely due to the cyclical effect of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme safety net.

A stronger Australian dollar kept prices down in a number of categories. The clothing and footwear group recorded a decrease in prices of 1.9 per cent between the quarters.

The total cost of comfortable retirement for a single person has risen by 0.2 per cent to $39,393 a year, while the cost of modest retirement  rose by 0.4 per cent to $21,218.

The ASFA Retirement Standard is an independent initiative by ASFA, which benchmarks the annual budget needed by Australians to fund either a comfortable or modest standard of living in the post-work years.

The association defines a modest lifestyle in retirement as better than the age pension, but couples can still only afford fairly basic activities.

A comfortable retirement allows an older, healthy retiree to be involved in a broad range of leisure and recreational activities and to have a good standard of living through the purchase of things such as household goods, private health insurance, a reasonable car, good clothes, a range of electronic equipment, and domestic and occasionally international holiday travel.