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 December 2024 quarter:
- all households was 0.4 percent
- beneficiaries was 0.6 percent
- Māori was 0.5 percent
- superannuitants was 0.5 percent
- highest-expenditure household group was 0.4 percent
- lowest-expenditure household group was 0.6 percent.
| Quarter | Average household | Beneficiary | Superannuitant | Expenditure quintile 1 (low) | Expenditure quintile 5 (high) | Māori |
| 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 |
| Jun-24 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.7 |
| Sep-24 | 1 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 0.8 |
| Dec-24 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.5 |
Annual change
Inflation experienced in the 12 months to the December 2024 quarter:
- all households was 3.0 percent
- beneficiaries was 3.3 percent
- Māori was 3.1 percent
- superannuitants was 3.6 percent
- highest-expenditure household group was 2.7 percent
- lowest-expenditure household group was 3.9 percent.
| Quarter | Average household | Beneficiary | Superannuitant | Expenditure quintile 1 (low) | Expenditure quintile 5 (high) | Māori |
| 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 |
| Jun-24 | 5.4 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 5 | 5.6 | 5.5 |
| Sep-24 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 4.3 | 3.7 | 3.9 |
| Dec-24 | 3 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 3.9 | 2.7 | 3.1 |
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. In contrast, 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.
In the December 2024 quarter:
- annual inflation, as measured by the CPI, was up 2.2 percent
- annual inflation for the average household, as measured by the HLPIs, was up 3.0 percent.
These two measures of inflation are typically used for different purposes. A key use of the CPI is for monetary policy, while the HLPIs 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 we measure different housing-related costs.
In the HLPIs, interest payments increased by 7.1 percent for the average household in the 12 months to the December 2024 quarter. In the CPI, the cost of building a new home increased by 2.0 percent over 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.
Technical enquiries
Zack Lindsay
04 931 4600
[email protected]
ISSN 2463-719X
Next release
Household living-costs price indexes: March 2025 quarter will be released on 1 May 2025.
