The 7.3-percent increase follows an annual increase of 6.9 percent in the March 2022 quarter, the previous largest annual movement since a 7.6-percent increase in the June 1990 quarter that occurred shortly after the introduction of Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1989, which was to target the high inflation at that time.
The main driver for the high annual inflation to the June 2022 quarter was the housing and household utilities group, due to rising prices for construction and rentals for housing, according to Stats NZ.
Prices for the construction of new dwellings increased 18 percent in the quarter compared with the June 2021 quarter, it said.
"Supply-chain issues, labor costs, and higher demand have continued to push up the cost of building a new house," Stats NZ General Manager Jason Attewell said in a statement.
The 18-percent annual increase in the year to the June quarter follows an 18-percent jump in March and a 16-percent rise in December 2021, Attewell said.
The next largest contributor to the annual inflation was from the transport group, due to higher prices for petrol and diesel, he said.
Petrol prices rose 32 percent in the June 2022 quarter, the largest annual increase since the June 1985 quarter. Diesel prices jumped 74 percent over the same period, statistics show.
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