ECONOMY / COST OF LIVING
What does it cost
to live in New Zealand?
Follow changes in everyday prices with verified statistics from Stats NZ and MBIE. All figures show their measurement period.
PRICES OVER TIME
Track inflation.
The annual percentage change in the Consumer Price Index, by quarter.
Source: Stats NZ · September 2026 quarter ↗Annual percent change · published 22 October 2026
THE PRICE STORY
What's moved in the last year?.
Selected year-on-year price changes for the September 2026 year. These are not changes to individual bills.
Petrol, electricity, housing purchase and vegetables: September 2026 CPI release. Food: September 2026 selected price indexes. These series have different coverage and should not be added together.
UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE
CPI and household costs
aren't the same thing.
CPI measures price changes in a representative basket of goods and services. The Household Living-costs Price Indexes also account for different household groups and some payments such as mortgage interest. In September 2026, annual CPI was 3.7%, while average-household living-cost inflation was 3.0%.
Read the Stats NZ explanation ↗