Food prices, interest payments push New Zealand's household living costs

WELLINGTON, July 27 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's cost of living for the average household increased by 7.2 percent in the 12 months to June 2023, contributed mainly by soaring food prices, according to the statistics department Stats NZ on Thursday.

This follows a 7.7 percent increase in the 12 months to March 2023, Stats NZ's consumer prices manager James Mitchell said.

Food prices increased by 12.7 percent for the average household, Mitchell said, adding this was the main contributor to higher living costs for most household groups.

"Higher prices for interest payments and grocery food were the biggest contributors to the 7.2 percent increase," he said, adding these were partly offset by lower prices for private transport supplies and services, such as petrol and diesel, thanks to government subsidies on transport.

Highest-spending households' cost of living increased 7.8 percent in the 12 months to June 2023. This compares with 7.2 percent for the average household, Mitchell said.

The main contributor to this was higher interest payments. Highest-spending households spend proportionally more on interest payments than other household groups, he said.

The cost of living for lowest-spending households was 6.9 percent in the 12 months to June 2023, statistics show.

The main contributors to this increase were grocery food, rent, fruit and vegetables, and interest payments. These were partly offset by lower prices for private transport supplies and services, Mitchell said.

Each quarter, the household living-costs price indexes measure how inflation affects 13 different household groups and the average household. The consumer price index measures how inflation affects New Zealand as a whole, Stats NZ said.