The New Zealand Consumer Price Index (CPI) YoY remained very high during the last three months of 2022, at 7.2%, matching the previous quarter and just one tenth below the decade high of 7.3% seen in the second quarter. The result worsens the expectation of the market, which expected a setback to 7.1%.
Housing and household utilities were the biggest contributors to the December 2022 annual inflation rate. This was due to rising prices for both construction and rental housing.
Prices to build a new home rose 14% year-on-year from October to December, following a 17% increase between July and September.
“Respondents reported that more expensive materials and higher labor costs are driving the rise in new home construction,” said senior manager of consumer pricing Nicola Growden.
Inflation rose 1.4% quarter-on-quarter, influenced by the increase in prices in the groups of housing and domestic public services, food and leisure and culture. In the previous quarter, the CPI was 2.2% and 1.3% was expected for it.
Transportation prices rose 0.9% in the last quarter of 2022. International airfares increased 19%, partly offset by a 7.2% drop in gasoline prices.
Source: Fx Street
I am Joshua Winder, a senior-level journalist and editor at World Stock Market. I specialize in covering news related to the stock market and economic trends. With more than 8 years of experience in this field, I have become an expert in financial reporting.
