New Zealand Sees 2.2 Percent Increase in Household Costs

(MENAFN) Living expenses for the typical New Zealand family increased 2.2 percent during the twelve months ending December 2025, according to Stats NZ data released Monday.

The Household Living Costs Price Indexes (HLPIs)—which track inflation's impact on New Zealand households—have steadily declined since hitting a peak of 8.2 percent in 2022, now returning to levels not observed since June 2021, the national statistics agency reported.

Meanwhile, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a more comprehensive inflation metric, climbed 3.1 percent across the identical timeframe, official figures revealed.

"Interest payments fell 17.3 percent for the average household over the past year, while the cost of building a new home increased 1.2 percent over the same period," Stats NZ prices and deflators spokesperson Nicola Growden said.

The HLPI calculation incorporates interest charges including mortgages, credit cards, and additional borrowing costs, whereas the CPI factors in new home construction expenses.

Retiree households on superannuation faced the steepest inflation rate at 3.8 percent, propelled upward by rising municipal taxes, power bills, and medical insurance premiums, Stats NZ indicated.

Conversely, the nation's highest-income households experienced the mildest inflation at just 0.8 percent, benefiting from an 18.6 percent plunge in home loan interest costs, the agency noted.

Rental prices advanced 1.9 percent annually and continued as the dominant factor pushing living expenses higher for welfare recipients and Māori households, government statistics confirmed.

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