Statistics New Zealand

04/29/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/28/2024 16:50

Household living-costs price indexes: March 2024 quarter

Household living-costs price indexes: March 2024 quarter

29 April 2024, 10:45am

Household living-costs price indexes (HLPIs) provide insights into the inflation experienced by 13 different household groups: beneficiaries, Māori, income quintiles (five groups), expenditure quintiles (five groups), and superannuitants. We publish an all-households HLPI for comparison.

Key facts

Quarterly change

Inflation experienced in the March 2024 quarter:

  • all households was 1.0 percent
  • beneficiaries was 1.1 percent
  • Māori was 1.0 percent
  • superannuitants was 0.7 percent
  • highest-expenditure household group was 1.0 percent
  • lowest-expenditure household group was 1.0 percent.
  • Graph
  • Table
Created with Highcharts 5.0.14Percentage changeQuarterly percentage change, household living-costs price indexes, March 2016-2024Average householdBeneficiarySuperannuitantExpenditure quintile 1 (low)Expenditure quintile 5 (high)MāoriMar-16Jun-16Sep-16Dec-16Mar-17Jun-17Sep-17Dec-17Mar-18Jun-18Sep-18Dec-18Mar-19Jun-19Sep-19Dec-19Mar-20Jun-20Sep-20Dec-20Mar-21Jun-21Sep-21Dec-21Mar-22Jun-22Sep-22Dec-22Mar-23Jun-23Sep-23Dec-23Mar-24-10123Stats NZ

Quarterly percentage change, household living-costs price indexes, March 2016-2024

Created with Highcharts 5.0.14Percentage changeQuarterly percentage change, household living-costs price indexes, March 2016-2024Average householdBeneficiarySuperannuitantExpenditure quintile 1 (low)Expenditure quintile 5 (high)MāoriMar-16Jun-16Sep-16Dec-16Mar-17Jun-17Sep-17Dec-17Mar-18Jun-18Sep-18Dec-18Mar-19Jun-19Sep-19Dec-19Mar-20Jun-20Sep-20Dec-20Mar-21Jun-21Sep-21Dec-21Mar-22Jun-22Sep-22Dec-22Mar-23Jun-23Sep-23Dec-23Mar-24-10123Stats NZ
Quarter Average household Beneficiary Superannuitant Expenditure quintile 1 (low) Expenditure quintile 5 (high) Māori
Mar-16 0 0.6 0.2 0.4 -0.5 0.3
Jun-16 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.2 0.4
Sep-16 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.4 0.2
Dec-16 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.3 0.5 0.2
Mar-17 0.9 1.4 0.9 1.3 0.5 1.3
Jun-17 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.2 -0.1 0.1
Sep-17 0.6 0.5 0.9 0.8 0.6 0.6
Dec-17 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.1
Mar-18 0.8 1 0.6 0.8 0.6 1.3
Jun-18 0.4 0.5 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.2
Sep-18 0.9 0.8 1.2 1 0.7 0.8
Dec-18 0.1 0 0 -0.1 0.2 0.1
Mar-19 0 0.6 0.2 0.5 -0.3 0.4
Jun-19 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.4 0.6
Sep-19 0.7 0.6 1 1 0.4 0.6
Dec-19 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.5 0.4
Mar-20 0.8 1.4 0.6 1.1 0.4 1.1
Jun-20 -0.6 -0.4 -0.5 -0.5 -0.7 -0.5
Sep-20 0.4 0.6 0.7 0.7 0 0.3
Dec-20 0.1 0.3 0.1 0 0.3 0.3
Mar-21 0.9 1.1 0.8 0.9 0.8 1
Jun-21 1.1 1 1.1 1 1.2 1
Sep-21 1.8 1.5 2.2 2 1.8 1.8
Dec-21 1.2 1.2 0.9 1 1.5 1.4
Mar-22 2.3 2.2 1.8 2 2.2 2.3
Jun-22 1.8 1.4 1.5 1.4 2.4 1.9
Sep-22 2.3 1.6 2.4 2 2.6 2.1
Dec-22 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.5 1.8 1.5
Mar-23 1.8 2 1.5 1.9 1.6 1.8
Jun-23 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.4
Sep-23 2.5 1.8 2.4 2.3 2.6 2.4
Dec-23 1.2 1.1 0.8 0.9 1.4 1.3
Mar-24 1 1.1 0.7 1 1 1

Annual change

Inflation experienced in the 12 months to the March 2024 quarter:

  • all households was 6.2 percent
  • beneficiaries was 5.3 percent
  • Māori was 6.3 percent
  • superannuitants was 5.2 percent
  • highest-expenditure household group was 6.6 percent
  • lowest-expenditure household group was 5.7 percent.
  • Graph
  • Table
Created with Highcharts 5.0.14Percentage changeAnnual percentage change, household living-costs price indexes, March 2016-2024Average householdBeneficiarySuperannuitantExpenditure quintile 1 (low)Expenditure quintile 5 (high)MāoriMar-16Jun-16Sep-16Dec-16Mar-17Jun-17Sep-17Dec-17Mar-18Jun-18Sep-18Dec-18Mar-19Jun-19Sep-19Dec-19Mar-20Jun-20Sep-20Dec-20Mar-21Jun-21Sep-21Dec-21Mar-22Jun-22Sep-22Dec-22Mar-23Jun-23Sep-23Dec-23Mar-24-2.502.557.510Stats NZ

Annual percentage change, household living-costs price indexes, March 2016-2024

Created with Highcharts 5.0.14Percentage changeAnnual percentage change, household living-costs price indexes, March 2016-2024Average householdBeneficiarySuperannuitantExpenditure quintile 1 (low)Expenditure quintile 5 (high)MāoriMar-16Jun-16Sep-16Dec-16Mar-17Jun-17Sep-17Dec-17Mar-18Jun-18Sep-18Dec-18Mar-19Jun-19Sep-19Dec-19Mar-20Jun-20Sep-20Dec-20Mar-21Jun-21Sep-21Dec-21Mar-22Jun-22Sep-22Dec-22Mar-23Jun-23Sep-23Dec-23Mar-24-2.502.557.510Stats NZ
Quarter Average household Beneficiary Superannuitant Expenditure quintile 1 (low) Expenditure quintile 5 (high) Māori
Mar-16 0.2 0.6 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.3
Jun-16 0.1 0.6 0.3 0.3 -0.2 0.2
Sep-16 0.1 0.8 0.4 0.6 -0.3 0.2
Dec-16 1 1.4 1.3 1.4 0.6 1.1
Mar-17 1.9 2.2 2 2.3 1.6 2.1
Jun-17 1.6 2 1.7 2 1.3 1.8
Sep-17 1.9 2.3 2.3 2.6 1.5 2.2
Dec-17 1.8 2.4 2.1 2.4 1.3 2.1
Mar-18 1.7 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.4 2
Jun-18 1.9 2.1 1.9 1.9 1.9 2.1
Sep-18 2.2 2.4 2.2 2.2 1.9 2.3
Dec-18 2.1 2.2 2.1 2 1.8 2.3
Mar-19 1.3 1.8 1.7 1.7 1 1.4
Jun-19 1.5 2.1 2.1 2.1 1 1.8
Sep-19 1.3 2 1.9 2.1 0.7 1.6
Dec-19 1.5 2.3 2.3 2.4 1 1.9
Mar-20 2.4 3.2 2.7 3.1 1.6 2.6
Jun-20 1.1 2 1.6 2 0.6 1.6
Sep-20 0.8 2 1.3 1.7 0.2 1.3
Dec-20 0.7 1.9 1 1.4 0 1.2
Mar-21 0.7 1.6 1.2 1.2 0.4 1.1
Jun-21 2.5 3 2.8 2.6 2.3 2.6
Sep-21 4 3.9 4.2 3.9 4.1 4.1
Dec-21 5.2 4.8 5 4.9 5.4 5.3
Mar-22 6.6 6 6.1 6 6.9 6.7
Jun-22 7.4 6.5 6.6 6.5 8.1 7.6
Sep-22 7.8 6.6 6.9 6.5 9.1 7.9
Dec-22 8.2 6.9 7.4 7.1 9.4 8.1
Mar-23 7.7 6.7 7.1 6.9 8.7 7.5
Jun-23 7.2 6.5 6.8 6.9 7.8 7.1
Sep-23 7.4 6.7 6.7 7.2 7.7 7.4
Dec-23 7 6.2 6.1 6.6 7.3 7.1
Mar-24 6.2 5.3 5.2 5.7 6.6 6.3

About the HLPIs and link to CPI

Each quarter, the household living-costs price indexes (HLPIs) measure how inflation affects 13 different household groups, plus an all-households group. The consumers price index (CPI) measures how inflation affects New Zealand as a whole.

The all-households group, or the average household, represents all private New Zealand-resident households. Lowest-spending, middle-spending, and highest-spending groups relate to expenditure quintiles 1, 3, and 5.

Household living-costs price indexes (HLPIs) - DataInfo+ has more information about the different household groups.

Annual inflation, as measured by the CPI, was 4.0 percent in the March 2024 quarter (see Consumers price index: March 2024 quarter), while annual inflation for the average household as measured by the HLPIs was 6.2 percent. The two measures of inflation are typically used for different purposes. A key use of the CPI is monetary policy, while the HLPIs' is to provide insight into the cost of living for different household groups.

One important difference between the two is the treatment of housing. The CPI captures the cost of building a new home, while the HLPIs capture mortgage interest payments.

How housing costs are measured in consumer price indexes at Stats NZ has more information about how housing costs are measured in the CPI and HLPIs.

In the HLPIs, interest payments increased by 28 percent for the average household in the 12 months to the March 2024 quarter. In the CPI, the cost of building a new home increased by 3.3 percent in the same period.

More data

Use Infoshare for quarterly household living-costs price indexes tables:

Subject category: Economic indicators
Group: Household living-costs price indexes - HPI

Definitions and metadata

Household living-costs price indexes methodology - DataInfo+ gives general methodology used to produce quarterly HLPI statistics.

Household living-costs price indexes concepts - DataInfo+ gives definitions of terms used in this release.

Media enquiries

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Next release

Household living-costs price indexes: June 2024 quarter will be released on 26 July 2024.