ISSUE #1: Cost of living

AKA: inflation

What this graph shows

• Annual CPI inflation rate for each quarter.
• 1990 Q1 onwards, coinciding with the introduction of formal inflation targets under the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1989.

Key notes

1. It's unfair to judge Labour 1990 by one year alone (the start of the graph). The new inflation targets had only just come in, and inflation was rampant under all government's throughout the 70s and 80s (and much of the 30s and 50s, too), hence the need for reform.
2. External factors can influence these results, and context is important, but governments are ultimately accountable for New Zealand's performance.
3. Remember that each Labour-led or National-led government has had coalition partners that share in their successes and failures. A full list of governments for this time range is at the bottom of this page.
4. You can toggle the RBNZ inflation targets on and off by clicking on 'Inflation Target' in the legend below the graphic.

Why this KPI?

• Changes in the cost of living are primarily measured by inflation/deflation indices (deflation is rare).
• Oxford definitions:
  • Inflation = a fall in the value of money and a general increase in prices; the rate at which this happens
  • Deflation = a reduction in the amount of money in a country’s economy so that prices fall or remain the same
• The CPI (Consumer Price Index) is the primary KPI (Key Performance Indicator) used by politicians, government organisations, economists, and media to measure inflation, so we have used it as the lead KPI for the cost of living issue too.
• HOWEVER, please be aware that while the CPI includes rent costs and the cost of building a new house, it does NOT include mortgage interest costs, the price of land, or the deposit amount, which are commonly the biggest expenses for first home buyers and many households.
• The HLPI (Household Living-cost Price Index) does take mortgage interest into account, HOWEVER, this metric is also limited in that it doesn’t take into account the rising costs of house deposits or the rising prices of houses, e.g. a 10% deposit on a $400k home ($40k) one decade vs 20% on $800k ($160k) the next. It ignores first-home buyers and makes the assumption that people are moving from like to like houses when moving, so deflates the series to keep the house price constant.
• If we can get enough support, we’d love to create a true inflation metric for New Zealand.

Data sources

Full data:

• 1925 Q4 onwards = infoshare.stats.govt.nz > Economic indicators > Consumers Price Index – CPI > CPI All Groups for New Zealand, percentage change (Qtrly-Mar/Jun/Sep/Dec) [Select ‘Percentage change from same period previous year’]
• RBNZ inflation targets = https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/monetary-policy/about-monetary-policy/history-of-the-remit-and-policy-targets-agreement

Summary data:

• 4 years only. https://www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/consumers-price-index-cpi/

Data timing

• Frequency: Quarterly
• Update delay: 22-27 days after the March/June/September/December quarters end
• Last update: 2026 Q3 = 22 October 2026
• Next update: 2026 Q4 = 27 January 2027

Related facts

Current

• Economy KPI
• Government debt 2026

Older

• Inflation - 1925 Q4 to 2002 Q2
• Tradeable vs non-tradable inflation
• Poll on whether the 2023 budget addressed the cost of living

Wishlist

With support, we’ll be able to add multiple KPIs for each issue:

• Our own true inflation metric. See kpi.nz/wishlist.
• HLPI (Household Living-Costs Price Index)
• Business price indexes
• GNDI (Gross National Disposable Income) (AKA Real earnings after tax)
• Median incomes vs median living costs
• Mortgage interest rates as a % of income (interest vs principal), or median mortgage interest rates
• Rent as a % of income
• Food price index vs median household income (older data here)
• Food price index biggest risers and fallers (older data here)
• Petrol prices adjusted for inflation, including fuel taxes
• Household/personal debt

Governments over the timeframe shown

• 1984 = Labour
  1987 = Labour
  
  
• 1990 = National
  1993 = National*
  1996 = National/NZ First*
  
  
• 1999 = Labour/Alliance + Green
  2002 = Labour/Progressive + United
  2005 = Labour/Progressive + United, NZ First
  
  
• 2008 = National + ACT, United, Māori
  2011 = National + ACT, United, Māori
  2014 = National + ACT, United, Māori
  
  
• 2017 = Labour/NZ First+Green
  2020 = Labour+Green

• 2023 = National/ACT/NZ First

* National remained in government from 1993–1999 despite MP defections and changing governing arrangements. Its coalition with NZ First, formed after the first MMP election in 1996, collapsed in August 1998.
/ = Coalition partners
+ = Other formal governing agreements, including confidence and supply, support and cooperation.

Sources:1,2 (table 5).

© Copyright

Data published by Stats NZ and Reserve Bank of New Zealand
© Crown Copyright
Licensed for use under the creative commons attribution licence (BY) 4.0

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