July's third monthly fuel fall
Stats NZ's partial July inflation measure showed petrol prices down 5.7 per cent and diesel down 12.1 per cent, the third month in a row that fuel became cheaper. Prices and deflators spokesperson Nicola Growden said petrol and diesel now sit below their March levels but remain above February. Petrol is still 15.1 per cent dearer than a year earlier and diesel nearly 35 per cent. Fuel makes up about 4 per cent of the consumer price index. Food prices rose 0.1 per cent on the month and the annual rate of 1.9 per cent was the lowest since December 2024. Seasonal supply effects on strawberries, cucumbers and capsicums drove the monthly food rise, while meat and poultry recorded their largest monthly fall in more than five years. Takeaway meals, ready-to-eat food, milk, takeaway coffee and some bread lifted the annual food rate. Food is about 19 per cent of the index. Electricity, gas and rents were flat or marginally cheaper, while domestic airfares rose nearly 21 per cent on June, the biggest July increase in 11 years. The measured items cover about half the index; consumer inflation had quickened to a two-year high of 4.1 per cent in the year ended June.[1]