New Zealand's annual inflation up 2.2 pct in Q3

WELLINGTON, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's Consumers Price Index (CPI) increased 2.2 percent in the September 2024 quarter, compared with the September 2023 quarter, according to the statistics department Stats NZ on Wednesday.

The 2.2 percent annual increase followed a 3.3 percent annual increase in the June 2024 quarter, Stats NZ said.

"Prices are still rising, but not as much as previously recorded," said Stats NZ consumer prices manager Nicola Growden.

For the first time since March 2021, annual inflation is within the Reserve Bank's target band of 1 percent to 3 percent.

The annual inflation increase in the last quarter was contributed by higher rent prices, which was up 4.5 percent, Growden said, adding that almost a fifth of the 2.2 percent annual inflation increase was due to rent prices.

Cigarettes and tobacco prices also increased, up 10 percent in the 12 months to the September 2024 quarter, due to the annual tobacco excise tax increase from the beginning of this year, he said, adding that lower petrol prices, which fell 8 percent, and lower vegetable prices, falling 17.9 percent, helped to offset rising prices.

Quarterly, the CPI rose 0.6 percent in the third quarter, compared with the second quarter this year, statistics show.