Like your vices? Best not shop in New Zealand

New Zealand is the second most expensive country in the world to buy a basket of vice goods, according to the annual Bloomberg Global Vice Index.

The index compares the costs of a weekly basket of six so-called vice goods including cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, amphetamines, cocaine and opioids across more than 100 countries.

New Zealand was one of only three countries where the gross weekly cost exceeded US$1,000 ($1,369), according to Bloomberg.

At US$1,366.40, Japan came in as the most expensive, followed by New Zealand at US$1,241.60 and Australia in third at US$1,028.70.

By comparison, the same basket cost less than $100 in 21 mostly tropical countries, including the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Congo, Colombia, South Africa, Guatemala, Kenya and Myanmar.

The Congo was the cheapest of these places with a weekly basket of vice goods costing just US$18.30.

New Zealand saw the biggest year-on-year increase with Kiwis having to fork out US$261.10 more for a basket of vice goods last year compared to 2016.

Vice prices tumbled the most in Iran, Norway and South Korea, all of which saw their weekly tab for a basket of goods fall by more than US$200 from the previous year.

Iran had the biggest drop in price, falling US$642.20 for a total cost of a basket of vice coming to US$62.40.

Data was sourced from the UN, World Health Organization, World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Bloomberg's vice basket tracks average retail prices for:

• Pack of cigarettes, popular and premium
• Bottle of alcoholic beverages, including beer, wine and spirits
• Gram of amphetamine-type stimulants, including methamphetamine and/or ecstasy
• Gram of cannabis, including marijuana hashish resin and/or cannabis oil
• Gram of cocaine, regardless of salts, paste or base forms
• Gram of opioids, including heroin and/or opium.