New Zealand household living costs up 3.8 pct

WELLINGTON, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) — The cost of living for an average New Zealand household increased 3.8 percent in the 12 months to the September 2024 quarter, following a 5.4 percent increase in the 12 months to the June quarter, according to the statistics department Stats NZ on Tuesday.
The most recent high was 8.2 percent recorded in the 12 months to the December 2022 quarter, according to household living-costs price indexes, which measure how inflation affects 13 different household groups each quarter.
In contrast, consumer price index (CPI) measures how inflation affects New Zealand as a whole. Inflation was 2.2 percent in the 12 months to the September 2024 quarter, following a 3.3 percent increase in the 12 months to the June quarter, Stats NZ said, adding the most recent CPI high was 7.3 percent, recorded in the 12 months to the June 2022 quarter.
In the three years since September 2021, interest payments have increased 117 percent. Over the same period, the CPI, which includes the cost of building a new home, increased 15.7 percent and household living-costs price indexes, which include interest payments for an average household, increased 20.3 percent, the statistics showed.
“Mortgage interest payments remain high and continue to contribute significantly to living costs for many households,” Stats NZ consumer prices manager Nicola Growden said.
Other contributors to increased living costs for most household groups were property rates and related services, insurance, and rent, Growden said. ■