Housing And Household Utilities Drive CPI

Housing And Household Utilities Drive CPI

The Consumers Price Index (CPI) increased 0.5 percent in the September 2007 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today. Prices for the housing and household utilities group made the most significant upward contribution to the CPI this quarter (up 1.8 percent).

The increase in the housing and household utilities group was mainly due to price increases for local authority rates and payments (up 6.0 percent) and the purchase of new housing (up 1.8 percent).

Prices for the food group were up 1.2 percent in the September 2007 quarter, mainly due to price increases for the grocery food (up 1.7 percent) and fruit and vegetables (up 4.3 percent) subgroups. The most significant individual upward contributions came from higher prices for fresh milk (up 10.8 percent) and tomatoes (up 28.0 percent).

Health prices decreased 3.1 percent in the September 2007 quarter, with the main contributions coming from price decreases for pharmaceutical products (down 16.2 percent) and general practitioner fees (down 15.4 percent). The decrease in the education group (down 5.2 percent) was mainly driven by lower prices for early childhood education (down 32.4 percent). Both the health and education groups' decreases reflect changes in government funding.

Of the remaining seven groups, four recorded increases: alcoholic beverages and tobacco (up 1.7 percent), transport (up 0.4 percent), miscellaneous goods and services (up 0.8 percent) and recreation and culture (up 0.3 percent). Three recorded decreases: clothing and footwear (down 0.5 percent), household contents and services (down 0.3 percent) and communication (down 0.3 percent).

For the year to the September 2007 quarter, the CPI increased 1.8 percent, following a rise of 2.0 percent for the year to the June 2007 quarter. The groups that made the most significant upward contributions for the year to the September 2007 quarter were housing and household utilities (up 5.1 percent) and food (up 3.3 percent). The largest downward contribution came from the transport group, which decreased 1.4 percent.

Geoff Bascand
Government Statistician
15 October 2007
END

There is a companion Hot Off The Press information release published – Consumers Price Index: September 2007 quarter.

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