New Brunswickers will be paying more for milk, starting next month.

The minimum price consumers will pay for milk will increase by nearly one per cent, the New Brunswick Farm Products Commission announced Friday.

Consumers now pay a minimum of $1.69 and a maximum of $2.06 for one litre of milk in a carton or plastic jug.

The price hike on Feb. 1 is "necessary" for several reasons, including the increase in payroll, energy, packaging and ingredient costs for dairy processors, the commission said in a statement.

Pricing under the New Brunswick school milk program, which subsidizes the price of milk for students from kindergarten through to Grade 12, will remain unchanged for the current school year, it said.

Previous price increases have been expressed in cents per litre.

Last year, retail milk prices jumped by four cents per litre, in part because of the exchange rate on the U.S. dollar and anticipated competition from global imports under the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.

In 2015, the price of milk increased by 1.4 cents and 2014 saw a three cent-increase.

The commission represents producers, processors and consumers and is responsible for setting the price of fluid milk products in New Brunswick.