Price Tracker: Explore the data behind the rising cost of living

The rising cost of living and the return of inflation is hitting Kiwis hard. Today, NZME is broadening its coverage of this issue impacting all New Zealanders. We look at how skyrocketing costs are impacting us all, and seek advice from experts and locals on how to manage your finances through these tough times.

New Zealanders across the country are feeling the pressure of the cost of living crisis as inflation and, in particular, food prices reach a 30-year high. Tomatoes have more than doubled in cost and potatoes - a staple people rely on being cheap - are almost 50 per cent more.

While annual inflation - which today sits at 7.2 per cent - is a measure of the country’s economy, there are other Government datasets that are more relevant to the experiences of New Zealanders.

As part of our coverage of this topic, NZME has launched the Price Tracker, an interactive tool to help Kiwis explore changes to prices and better inform their budgeting decisions.

The Herald has used data from the Food Price Index and Household Living-costs Price Indexes (HLPI) to create an interactive price tracker for readers to explore.

The HLPI includes mortgage interest costs and is a better reflection of the increases faced by many households. For the year to December, the average household cost increase was 8.2 per cent, a whole percentage point higher than the official inflation figure. The highest-spending households – often those with big mortgages - had a price increase of 9.4 per cent.

While data can seem abstract, it is just carefully collected experiences of individual people. To illustrate this, we are speaking to New Zealanders across the board to find out how the rising cost of living is impacting their everyday lives. Today, we release the first version of the Price Tracker and tell the stories behind the numbers, from Kiwis impacted by them.

As part of the ongoing coverage of this issue, over the course of the next few months, we will keep giving you the latest numbers and telling the stories of how they impact New Zealanders while helping you navigate these trickier times.