(MENAFN) The average cost of living for New Zealand households climbed 2.4 percent in the year to the September 2025 quarter, Stats NZ announced Tuesday, marking a slight slowdown from the 2.6 percent rise seen in the year to June.

According to the statistics agency, the latest increase — tracked through the household living-costs price indexes (HLPIs) — remains well below the 8.2 percent peak recorded in the year to December 2022.

Stats NZ noted that the 2.4-percent annual rise was marginally under the 3-percent inflation rate measured by the consumer price index (CPI) over the same period. The difference, the agency said, was “largely due to a 15.4-percent drop in mortgage interest payments,” which are factored into the HLPIs but excluded from the CPI.

The HLPIs assess inflation’s effect across 13 distinct household groups, while the CPI captures price changes across the broader economy and serves as a key benchmark for monetary policy, Stats NZ explained.

Falling mortgage interest payments significantly benefited the highest-spending households, which recorded the lowest annual inflation rate at 0.8 percent. Meanwhile, superannuitants faced 3.9 percent inflation, as “most own their homes outright and have little mortgage impact,” Stats NZ said.

Electricity prices surged 11.3 percent over the same period, hitting lower-income groups hardest and contributing 19 percent to their 4-percent inflation rate.

Rent costs also rose 2.6 percent in the 12 months to September, exerting greater pressure on beneficiaries, whose rent accounts for nearly 30 percent of total spending, compared with 13.1 percent for the average household and 5.1 percent for the highest-spending group, the agency added.

MENAFN28102025000045017169ID1110258328