The rise of Vaping culture. StatsNZ now includes e-cigarettes in its consumer index. Photo / File
The rise of Vaping culture. StatsNZ now includes e-cigarettes in its consumer index. Photo / File
Vapes are in and CDs are out as StatsNZ updates the basket of consumer goods it uses to measure inflation.
The government statistician has released the results of its review of consumer spending trends, including a look back across the decades.
The items it includes make up the Consumer Price Index (CPI) that measures the pace at which prices are rising or falling.
Latest figures showed vegetables and council rates were the biggest risers, leading to a 0.7 per cent rise in the consumer price index in the September 2020 quarter, taking annual inflation to 1.4 per cent.
"The CPI basket reflects New Zealand society and how tastes and spending patterns change over time," prices index development team manager Fiona Smillie said.
New additions to the basket included e-cigarettes and exercise equipment and items leaving the basket included CDs, cordless (land-line) phones and travel guides.
StatsNZ has also highlighted some of the changes across the decades with the CPI measuring such Kiwi consumer trend as the rise and fall of saveloys and the arrival of avocados.
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The CPI measures the changes in prices that households pay for goods and services. Price change is measured by tracking the prices of individual items that make up a representative basket of goods and services.
Each quarter StatsNZ collects about 100,000 prices.
It visits retail outlets such as supermarkets, department stores and clothing shops and sends about 1700 surveys to a range of businesses each quarter, including construction firms, insurance companies, and used car yards.
It visits websites to collect prices for things like streaming services, software and private accommodation rented from others. It also collects data from various other sources, including scanner data (recorded by retailers when consumers make purchases) for consumer electronics and from some supermarkets.
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CPI inflation is used by the Reserve Bank as a guide for whether it needs to adjust the official cash rate, which may mean banks adjust their interest rates.
Other government agencies use the CPI to track if adjustments are needed for calculations such as superannuation.
The CPI also helps to inform wage negotiations between employers, employees and trade unions by reflecting the cost of living.
