CPI and the main factors driving increase revealed
Stats NZ has announced that the consumers price index has increased to 7.2% annually in the September 2022 quarter.
The 7.2% increase to the CPI follows an annual increase of 7.3% in the June 2022 quarter and an annual increase of 6.9% in the March 2022 quarter.
With next to no movement for the inflation figure, Stats NZ said the main driver for the annual inflation to the September 2022 quarter was housing and household utilities due to rising prices for construction, rentals for housing and local authority rates as prices for the construction of a new house increased 17% in the September 2022 quarter compared with the September 2021 quarter.
“The cost to construct a new house has continued to rise with supply-chain issues, labour costs and higher demand, all of which combine to push up prices,” said Stats NZ prices and construction senior manager Nicola Growden.
“The 17% annual increase in construction of a new house in the September quarter follows 18% annual increases in both the June and March 2022 quarters.”
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Stats NZ said rental prices for housing experienced a 4.6% annual increase in the September 2022 quarter, following a 4.3% annual increase in the June 2022 quarter.
After housing and household utilities, Stats NZ said the next largest contributor to the annual increase was from the transport group due to higher prices for petrol and diesel, with petrol prices increasing 19% in the year to the September 2022 quarter. Meanwhile, diesel prices increased 72% over the same period.
The CPI rose 2.2% in the September 2022 quarter compared with the June 2022 quarter, mainly influenced by the food group and the housing and household utilities group.
The cost of vegetable prices rose 24% in the September 2022 quarter, compared with the June 2022 quarter.
“This is the largest quarterly rise in vegetable prices since the series began in September 1999,” Growden said.
“Tomatoes, lettuce and broccoli drove this rise in vegetable prices.”
Transport was also a main driver of the quarterly rise driven by international airfares, partly offset by a fall in petrol prices.
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International airfares rose 20% in the September 2022 quarter compared with the June 2022 quarter and annually they fell 8.4% in the September 2022 quarter compared with the September 2021 quarter.
Stats NZ said non-tradeable inflation was 6.6% in the year to September 2022 quarter, the highest since the series began in June 2000.
Construction of new dwellings, rentals for housing and ready-to-eat food were the biggest contributors to the movement.
“Non-tradeable inflation measures goods and services that do not face foreign competition. It is an indicator of domestic demand and supply conditions, however, the input materials of these goods and services can be influenced by foreign competition,” Growden said.
“The tradeable inflation rate, which measures goods and services that are influenced by foreign markets, was at 8.1% in the year to the September 2022 quarter. This compares with an annual rise of 8.7 percent in the June 2022 quarter.”
