Retail NZ CEO Carolyn Young has pointed to high growth in fuel and electricity prices for the elevated Consumer Price Index numbers shared by Stats NZ this week.
She added that the 4.1 per cent annual inflation rate shows just how tough things have been for households in recent months. However, she is seeing underlying signs of positivity.
Stats NZ’s CPI figures for the year to June 2026 show just how significant a contributor fuel was to the rise, with petrol prices accounting for almost a quarter of the annual inflation rise, and diesel the next biggest contributor.
“All New Zealanders have been feeling the impacts of high fuel prices, so it is no wonder that petrol and diesel were the main cause of the inflation increase for the year to June,” Young said.
“They had an even bigger impact on the 1.5 per cent rise in quarterly inflation, accounting for two thirds of the increase, which was the fourth-biggest quarterly rise since June 2022.”
But, looking across other categories outside fuel and power, the rest of the products are tracking within the inflation target of 1 to 3 per cent for the year. It is unclear where fashion sits in this, but recent numbers on Australian CPI from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show a meaningful uptick in fashion prices – well ahead of inflation.
In seasonally adjusted terms, clothing and footwear inflation grew 5.2 per cent to May 2026, but was down by 0.7 per cent between April and May.
Price growth across clothing and footwear appears to be slowing from a recent peak in March, when it was up 7.1 per cent in original terms year-on-year.
Clothing and footwear’s annual inflation surge was driven by accessories (up 15.5 per cent) and garments for women (up 4.1 per cent).
In New Zealand, Young noted that while tensions have escalated again in the Middle East, fuel prices have not risen sharply, nor to the levels seen when the instability first erupted. Young said this will be of further comfort to both retailers and consumers.