In brief
Stats NZ said that New Zealand households faced a 3% rise in living costs in the year to September, down from 3.2% in the previous quarter. The increase was largely caused by soaring petrol prices, alongside rises in electricity and local authority rates. Consumer‑price inflation was 3.7%, with falling interest payments cushioning overall inflation.
On 30 October, Stats NZ announced that New Zealand household living costs rose 3 percent in the year to the September quarter, easing from a 3.2 percent rise in the year to the June quarter, according to Xinhua reporting on Friday. The uptick was largely driven by a 19.1 percent spike in petrol prices, which accounted for almost a quarter of the increase in average annual household living costs.
Other price drivers included a 9.3 percent rise in electricity prices and a 6.2 percent increase in local‑authority rates, stats NZ said. The rise in petrol costs was the dominant factor, with the Agency noting that “higher petrol prices” were the principal cause of the inflationary pressure.
Consumer‑price index inflation for the same period stood at 3.7 percent, down from 4.1 percent in the year to the previous quarter, Stats NZ added. The Agency highlighted that falling interest payments helped keep household living‑cost inflation below the CPI rate, with interest payments for the average household declining about 10 percent over the year.
Stats NZ also reported variations across household groups. Superannuitant households—those receiving New Zealand’s government retirement pension—experienced the highest annual inflation at 4 percent, while higher‑spending households saw the lowest rate at 2.5 percent.
International airfares also climbed, rising 12.5 percent during the period, mainly due to higher fares to Europe and Asia, the Agency said.
Data from the RNZ Personal‑Finance outlet confirmed the stats, noting a 3 percent rise in average household costs in the year ended September, from 3.2 percent in the June year‑end. Although the report did not provide a full citation, RNZ quoted the headline that higher petrol prices were the main driver of the cost increase.
