According to Statistics NZ, New Zealand's consumer price index (CPI) increased by 2.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to an annual increase of 2.2 per cent in the third quarter of 2024, both slow increases.
“Prices are still rising, but not at the rates previously recorded,” said Nicola Groden, spokeswoman for Stats NZ's prices and deflators office, adding that the most recent peak was in the second quarter of 2022, when the annual inflation rate was 7.3 per cent. Had reached.
“This is the second consecutive quarter that the annual inflation rate has been within the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's target band of 1 to 3 percent,” Groden said. He said annual inflation between the second quarter of 2021 and the second quarter of 2024 was above the target band.
Nearly one-fifth of the 2.2 percent annual increase in CPI was due to rent prices, which rose 4.2 percent, the largest contributor to annual inflation, he said, adding that annual rent inflation between fourth quarter 2023 and fourth quarter 2024 is expected to be 4.2 percent. And 4.8 percent, which is increasing at a constant rate.
The figures show the 2.2 per cent annual inflation increase also included a 16 per cent contribution from local authority rates and payments, which rose 12.2 per cent in the 12 months to the fourth quarter of 2024.
Cigarette and tobacco prices contributed 11 percent to the 2.2 percent annual CPI growth, which is projected to rise by 7.6 percent in the 12 months to the fourth quarter of 2024, mainly due to the annual cut on January 1, 2024, Xinhua news agency reported. There is an increase in tobacco excise duty.
The recent increase in inflation was offset by lower petrol prices, which were 9.2 per cent lower, partly due to the removal of the Auckland regional fuel tax of 10 cents per liter on June 30, 2024, Groden said, adding that the petrol CPI basket would Makes up about 4 percent.
“If petrol were excluded, CPI would have risen 2.7 per cent in the 12 months to December 2024,” he said, adding that lower prices of vegetables, which were 14.6 per cent lower, also offset the annual CPI rise.
On a quarterly basis, CPI in the fourth quarter of 2024 increased by 0.5 per cent compared to the previous quarter, mainly due to international air transport prices, which increased by 6.6 per cent, according to Stats NZ.
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