Consumers price index: December 2019 quarter
21 February 2020: We have updated tables 3.01, 3.02, and 3.03 in this release, to include previously suppressed figures. These figures have also been updated in Infoshare.
29 January 2020: We’ve corrected the label on table 1 of the Excel file 'Consumers price index: December 2019 quarter'. It previously stated ‘Base: June 2006 quarter (=1000)’. We have changed it to ‘Base: June 2017 quarter (=1000)’. This affected only table 1 of the December 2019 quarter release. There is no change to the index numbers or movements. We regret the error and apologise for any inconvenience caused.
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Consumers price index: December 2019 quarter – updated 21 February 2020
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Key facts
Inflation rates for the December 2019 quarter:
- quarterly 0.5 percent
- annual 1.9 percent.
Quarterly change
In the December 2019 quarter compared with the September 2019 quarter, the consumers price index (CPI) rose 0.5 percent (0.7 percent with seasonal adjustment).
- Transport rose 2.1 percent, influenced by higher prices for passenger transport services (up 8.8 percent).
- Recreation and culture rose 1.6 percent, influenced by higher prices for accommodation services (up 4.4 percent).
- Housing and household utilities rose 0.5 percent, influenced by higher prices for rentals for housing (up 0.8 percent).
- Food prices fell 0.6 percent, influenced by seasonal falls in fruit and vegetable prices (down 6.3 percent).
Annual change
From the December 2018 quarter to the December 2019 quarter, the CPI inflation rate was 1.9 percent.
- Housing and household utilities increased 3.0 percent, with rentals for housing up 3.1 percent, property rates and related services up 5.0 percent, and purchase of housing up 2.4 percent.
- Food prices increased 2.5 percent, with restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food up 3.4 percent.
- Alcoholic beverages and tobacco increased 4.9 percent, with cigarettes and tobacco up 9.1 percent.
Average quarterly prices
The average price for 1 litre of 91 octane petrol was $2.14 in the December 2019 quarter. This is up from $2.11 in the September 2019 quarter, and down from $2.17 in the December 2018 quarter.
Housing and food costs drive annual inflation
Housing and household utilities was the main contributor to the 1.9 percent CPI increase in the December 2019 year. The rise in this group was influenced by higher prices for rents, local authority rates, and purchase of housing.
Actual rentals for housing increased 3.1 percent nationwide in the year to December 2019. Regionally, rental prices increased 1.9 percent in Auckland and 1.3 percent in Canterbury. In Wellington, rental prices rose 4.5 percent, its largest annual increase since the series began in 2006.
Food was another leading contributor to the annual CPI, increasing 2.5 percent. This was driven by a 3.4 percent price increase in restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food. In April 2019, the minimum wage rose from $16.50 to $17.70 an hour. Changes to the minimum wage tend to impact more on workers in the retail and food industries.
Higher transport prices contribute the most to quarterly inflation
Transport prices rose 2.1 percent in December 2019 quarter. Higher prices for international air transport and petrol were the main contributors. International air transport had a seasonal rise of 9.3 percent this quarter, following a 7.6 percent rise in the December 2018 quarter. Petrol prices rose 1.6 percent.
Recreation and culture rose 1.6 percent in the December 2019 quarter. This was the second largest upward contributor to the CPI, driven by higher prices for accommodation services (up 4.4 percent) and newspapers, books, and stationery (up 3.0 percent).
Housing and household utilities rose 0.5 percent in the December 2019 quarter. Rentals for housing rose 0.8 percent this quarter across the country. Auckland rose 0.5 percent and Wellington rose 1.0 percent. Canterbury rose 0.4 percent, with a 1.1 percent rise in the rest of South Island.
Higher transport costs lead tradable increase
Tradables rose 0.4 percent in the December 2019 quarter, mainly driven by higher prices for international airfares and petrol. Lower prices for vegetables partly offset the rise.
In the December 2019 year, tradables increased 0.1 percent, with higher prices for meat and poultry, breads and cereals, and women’s clothing. Lower prices for games, toys, and hobbies; new cars; and telecommunication equipment partly offset the rises.
Non-tradables increased 3.1 percent in the year to December 2019. Higher prices for rents, cigarettes and tobacco, and local authority rates made the largest contributions.
Underlying price showed higher inflation for the year
The trimmed-mean measures – which exclude extreme price movements – ranged from 2.0 percent to 2.1 percent for the year. This indicates that underlying inflation is higher than the 1.9 percent overall increase in CPI. On a quarterly basis, trimmed means ranged from 0.4 percent to 0.5 percent.
For the year ended December 2019:
- CPI excluding housing and household utilities increased 1.5 percent
- CPI excluding cigarettes and tobacco increased 1.7 percent
- CPI excluding food increased 1.7 percent.
Correction to domestic air transport class
We have corrected an error in the domestic air transport class, which arose as part of the regular reweight of airfares. The error affects the domestic air transport class by up to 24 index points, for periods between the March 2017 quarter and the September 2019 quarter.
There is no impact on the overall published CPI all groups over this time period. The table below shows the impacts on the different levels of published CPI data.
| CPI | ||||
| Series ID | Classification | Index type | Max index point difference | Time period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPIQ.SE907 | Transport | Group | 1 | Multiple |
| CPIQ.SE9073 | Passenger transport services | Subgroup | 5 | Multiple |
| CPIQ.SE907303 | Domestic air transport | Class | 24 | 2019.1 |
| Non-tradables | ||||
| Series ID | Classification | Index type | Max index point difference | Time period |
| CPIQ.SE9TN07 | Transport | Group | 5 | 2019.1 |
| CPIQ.SE9TN073 | Passenger transport services | Subgroup | 12 | 2019.1 |
| CPIQ.SE9TN07303 | Domestic air transport | Class | 24 | 2019.1 |
| Broad regions | ||||
| Series ID | Classification | Index type | Max index point difference | Time period |
| CPIQ.SE107 | Transport | Auckland | 1 | Multiple |
| CPIQ.SE207 | Transport | Wellington | 2 | 2019.3 |
| CPIQ.SE307 | Transport | Rest of North Island | 1 | Multiple |
| CPIQ.SE407 | Transport | North Island | 1 | Multiple |
| CPIQ.SE507 | Transport | Canterbury | 2 | Multiple |
| CPIQ.SE607 | Transport | Rest of South Island | 1 | Multiple |
| CPIQ.SE707 | Transport | South Island | 2 | Multiple |
| COICOP | ||||
| Series ID | Classification | Index type | Max index point difference | Time period |
| CPIQ.SE9NS2060 | Transport | Group | 1 | Multiple |
See 'Consumers price index: December 2019 quarter – corrections' under Download data for more detail about the correction.
As part of the correction process, we have temporarily suppressed some values for the following six analytical series to enable thorough quality assurance. We will let you know as soon as possible when we will publish these values.
| Series ID | Series name |
|---|---|
| CPIQ.SE9NS6510 | All groups non-tradables less housing and household utilities group |
| CPIQ.SE9NS6520 | All groups non-tradables less purchase of new housing class |
| CPIQ.SE9NS6530 | All groups non-tradables less rentals for housing, home ownership, and property maintenance subgroups |
| CPIQ.SE9NS6570 | All groups non-tradables less central and local government charges |
| CPIQ.SE9NS6580 | All groups non-tradables less cigarettes and tobacco subgroup |
| CPIQ.SE9NS6590 | All groups non-tradables less central and local government charges and cigarettes and tobacco sub group |
Stats NZ is an open and transparent organisation and corrects errors as soon as practicable. We have rigorous processes to check data before publication. We regret the error and any inconvenience caused.
Impact of error on other statistics
The corrections will also be reflected in the household living-cost price indexes, which will be published on Wednesday, 5 February 2020. The revised price index series are used in compiling household consumption expenditure on transport for the quarterly gross domestic product release. The revisions do not have a significant impact on the estimates of household consumption expenditure previously published in Gross domestic product: September 2019 quarter.
There is no impact on the producers price index and the overseas trade indexes.
More data
Use Infoshare to access the CPI time series:
Subject category: Economic indicators
Group: Consumers price index
Definitions and metadata
Consumers price index concepts – DataInfo+ gives definitions of terms used in this release and general methodology used to produce the CPI and related metadata.
Consumers price index – DataInfo+ gives general methodology used to produce the CPI and related metadata.
Media enquiries
Sandi Reily
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media@stats.govt.nz
Technical enquiries
Alex Heath
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info@stats.govt.nz
ISSN 1178-0452
Next release
Consumers price index: March 2020 quarter will be released on 20 April 2020.
