Corrected consumers price index for the September quarter

Corrected consumers price index for the September 2016 quarter

7 November 2016

Statistics NZ has today corrected its consumers price index (CPI) figures for the September 2016 quarter, first published on 18 October 2016.

As a result, the quarterly CPI change in the September 2016 quarter is now 0.3 percent, having previously been published as 0.2 percent.

The annual change in CPI for the year to the September 2016 quarter moves to 0.4 percent from the previously published figure of 0.2 percent.

The changes were required to correct a manual processing error discovered by Statistics NZ. The error affected prices for vehicle relicensing fees, within the transport group. There is a flow-on effect on the non-tradable index. The index for non-tradables less government charges is unaffected.

Statistics NZ is confident that the correction only affects the September 2016 quarter index numbers, as it occurred in our measurement of lower ACC levies for light vehicles that came into effect during the quarter.

Following our protocols for errors, Statistics NZ has decided to correct the CPI now to ensure our customers have the best possible information to inform their decisions. We have already notified the Reserve Bank of these changes ahead of its OCR announcement on Thursday this week. We also notified the Treasury ahead of its next Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU).

Statistics NZ apologises for any inconvenience caused by this error.

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