Consumers Price Index: December 2011 quarter key facts

In the December 2011 quarter compared with the September 2011 quarter:

• The consumers price index (CPI) fell 0.3 percent.
• The main downward contribution came from the food group (down 2.2 percent), reflecting lower prices for vegetables
• Communication prices fell 3.5 percent, reflecting lower Internet charges and international phone calling rates.
• Transport prices rose 1.4 percent, reflecting seasonally higher prices for international air transport.

From the December 2010 quarter to the December 2011 quarter:

• The CPI increased 1.8 percent. This compares with a 4.6 percent increase for the year to the September 2011 quarter. The lower increase is partly due to the fact that the latest annual increase does not include most of the effects of the GST increase that occurred in October 2010.

The CPI measures the rate of price change of goods and services purchased by households. Statistics NZ visits 3,000 shops around New Zealand to collect prices for the CPI and check product sizes and features.

• Read more here
• For the full information release click here.
• For Excel tables, click here.

ENDS

BUDGET 2012:
Parliament Debate Live - Video Of Budget 2011
Keith Ng Interactive Graphic: How the Budget Breaks Down
BUDGET 2012 - FULL COVERAGE: Reports / Analysis - Press Kit - Reaction (from everybody) - Previews (from everybody) - Pre-Budget Announcements

Gordon Campbell: On the Budget’s Spreadsheet Victories

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Sludge Budget Report - Short The Dollar! MEMO: To international bankers FROM: C.D. Sludge Please short the dollar! It'll be good for both you and us. And you know you want to. Greexit, Eurogeddon... watch out... flight to quality and all that. Follow your instincts. The NZ Debt Management Office has been so surprised at the unprecedentedly low interest rates that it can borrow at that it has already entirely pre-funded the 2013 fiscal deficit - all $8 billion of it! More >>

Pattrick Smellie Comment: Doddling along the best we can hope forCriticising Budgets for lacking vision or imagination is like shooting fish in a barrel, but even so, this year's Budget again feels like a missed opportunity. Perhaps it's the intrusion of real world needs that means the government couldn't make better political use of the $558.8 million it expects to gather in its first partial asset sale. More >>