New Zealand's household cost of living up 7.4%

Wellington, Oct 26 (IANS) The cost of living for the average New Zealand household increased 7.4 per cent in the 12 months to the September 2023 quarter, which followed a 7.2 per cent increase in the 12 months to the June 2023 quarter, statistics department Stats NZ said on Thursday.

The cost-of-living increase for the average household as measured by the household living-costs price indexes was larger in the 12 months to the September quarter than the 12 months to the June quarter, Stats NZ consumer prices manager James Mitchell said.

In contrast, consumers price index (CPI) inflation eased over the same period, as the cost-of-living measure includes additional ongoing costs that are not included in the CPI, such as interest rates that have increased 27 per cent for the average household over the past 12 months, Xinhua news agency quoted Mitchell as saying.

Each quarter, the household living-costs price indexes (HLPIs) measure how inflation affects 13 different household groups, plus the average household. In contrast, the CPI measures how inflation affects New Zealand as a whole.

The two measures of inflation are typically used for different purposes.

A key use of the CPI is monetary policy, while the HLPIs provide insight into the cost of living for different household groups, he said.

"Food and housing continued to be the key drivers of inflation for all household groups," Mitchell said.

Higher prices for interest payments and grocery food were the biggest contributors to the 7.4 per cent increase in the average household cost of living in the 12 months to the September quarter, he said, adding grocery food includes items such as non-perishable food, dairy products, and eggs.