Producers Price Index: December 2005 — 16 February 2006
Electricity Drives PPI Increases
Output prices in the Producers Price Index (PPI) rose 0.3 percent and input prices rose 1.2 percent in the December
2005 quarter, the seventh consecutive quarterly increase for both indexes, Statistics New Zealand said today. The
electricity generation and supply index was the most significant positive contributor to both indexes, reflecting higher
wholesale prices for electricity in the December 2005 quarter.
The most significant upward contributor to the PPI outputs index, the electricity generation and supply index, rose 8.8
percent in the December 2005 quarter, its fifth consecutive quarterly increase.
Other significant upward contributions to the outputs index came from the mining index (up 7.7 percent, due to higher
export prices for crude oil, increased spot prices for gold, and higher world prices for exports of coal) and the
construction index (up 1.2 percent, due to increased costs for electrical installation and site preparation services in
the construction trade services index).
The 1.2 percent increase in the PPI inputs index was driven by the electricity generation and supply index, which rose
11.2 percent in the December 2005 quarter. Other significant upward contributors were the wholesale trade index (up 2.6
percent, due to the increased cost of crude oil), and the air transport index (up 4.8 percent, due to the increased cost
of aviation fuel).
Downward contributions to the PPI outputs index came from the meat and meat product manufacturing index (down 7.3
percent), the livestock and cropping farming index (down 5.2 percent), and the wholesale trade index (down 0.9 percent).
The meat and meat product manufacturing index (down 4.7 percent) was the only major negative contributor to the PPI
inputs index. In the year to the December 2005 quarter, the PPI outputs index rose 3.9 percent and the PPI inputs index
rose 6.5 percent. The latest annual increase in the PPI inputs index was the highest since an 8.1 percent rise in the
year to the June 2001 quarter.
Brian Pink
Government Statistician
ENDS