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 September 2024 quarter:
- all households was 1.0 percent
- beneficiaries was 1.1 percent
- Māori was 0.8 percent
- superannuitants was 1.7 percent
- highest-expenditure household group was 0.8 percent
- lowest-expenditure household group was 1.6 percent.
| Quarter | Average household | Beneficiary | Superannuitant | Expenditure quintile 1 (low) | Expenditure quintile 5 (high) | Māori |
| Sep-16 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| 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 |
Annual change
Inflation experienced in the 12 months to the September 2024 quarter:
- all households was 3.8 percent
- beneficiaries was 3.8 percent
- Māori was 3.9 percent
- superannuitants was 3.9 percent
- highest-expenditure household group was 3.7 percent
- lowest-expenditure household group was 4.3 percent.
| Quarter | Average household | Beneficiary | Superannuitant | Expenditure quintile 1 (low) | Expenditure quintile 5 (high) | Māori |
| Sep-16 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.6 | -0.3 | 0.2 |
| 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 |
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. 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.
- Annual inflation, as measured by the CPI, was 2.2 percent in the September 2024 quarter , while annual inflation for the average household as measured by the HLPIs was 3.8 percent. The 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 18.2 percent for the average household in the 12 months to the September 2024 quarter. In the CPI, the cost of building a new home increased by 2.5 percent in 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: December 2024 quarter will be released on 3 February 2025.
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