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.
1 February 2024: This release incorporates corrections to the following statistics:
- Petrol and diesel prices – due to an error in the September 2023 quarter CPI release, we have included a catch-up movement in the December 2023 quarter series related to these prices. The movement for the past six months is accurate. The error had up to one index-point impact on ‘all groups’ for some household groups.
- Interest payments – due to an error to CPI weighted average prices that began in 2019, interest payments had some minor differences. We have included a catch-up movement in the December 2023 quarter. The error impacted the ‘interest payments’ group by up to two index points for some quarters for some household groups. The error had up to one index point impact on ‘all groups’ for some household groups.
Key facts
Quarterly change
Inflation experienced in the December 2023 quarter:
- all households was 1.2 percent
- beneficiaries was 1.1 percent
- Māori was 1.3 percent
- superannuitants was 0.8 percent
- highest-expenditure household group was 1.4 percent
- lowest-expenditure household group was 0.9 percent.
| Quarter | Average household | Beneficiary | Superannuitant | Expenditure quintile 1 (low) | Expenditure quintile 5 (high) | Māori |
| Dec-15 | -0.6 | -0.5 | -0.6 | -0.5 | -0.4 | -0.7 |
| Mar-16 | 0 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.4 | -0.5 | 0.3 |
| Jun-16 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| 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 |
Annual change
Inflation experienced in the 12 months to December 2023:
- all households was 7.0 percent
- beneficiaries was 6.2 percent
- Māori was 7.1 percent
- superannuitants was 6.1 percent
- highest-expenditure household group was 7.3 percent
- lowest-expenditure household group was 6.6 percent.
| Quarter | Average household | Beneficiary | Superannuitant | Expenditure quintile 1 (low) | Expenditure quintile 5 (high) | Māori |
| Dec-15 | 0.3 | 0.5 | -0.1 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.3 |
| Mar-16 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Jun-16 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.3 | -0.2 | 0.2 |
| 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 |
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 4.7 percent in the December 2023 quarter , while annual inflation for the average household as measured by the HLPIs was 7.0 percent. The two measures of inflation are typically used for different purposes. A key use of the CPI is monetary policy, while the HLPIs’ is to 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 housing costs are measured in the CPI and HLPIs.
In the HLPIs, interest payments increased by 31 percent for the average household in the year to December 2023. In the CPI, the cost of building a new home increased by 3.6 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
Explore living-costs in New Zealand in more detail using our interactive app.
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
Jane Ellis
04 931 4600
[email protected]
ISSN 2463-719X
Next release
Household living-costs price indexes: March 2024 quarter will be released on 29 April 2024.
