Petrol and diesel prices rise month-on-month as international airfares record largest annual increase since April 2023, Statistics NZ says

International airfares continue to rise, according to Statistics New Zealand's latest Selected Price Indexes (SPI) figures. 

International airfares were up 4.3% in August, following a 10.9% leap in July. Meanwhile domestic airfares, which saw a 20.7% rise in July, saw a decrease of 10.9% in August. 

But on an annual basis both international and domestic airfares rose, with international airfares up 21.5% and domestic airfares up 6.5% in the year to August.

“This is the largest annual increase in international airfares since April 2023,” Stats NZ prices and deflators spokesperson Nicola Growden said. 

“Because we collect some international airfare prices around four months in advance, price changes that occurred earlier in the year for travel in August are now being reflected.”

The monthly rise in international airfares was driven primarily by higher fares to Europe and Asia, Growden said.

Meanwhile, after a drop in prices for petrol and diesel in July, August saw price rises with petrol up 2.0% and diesel up 8.6% monthly.  In the year ended August 2026, prices for these two fuel types also increased with petrol up 17.9% and diesel up 45.8%.

The SPI is a monthly series featuring about 47% of the contributors to the quarterly Consumers Price Index (CPI) - New Zealand's official measure of inflation. The SPI also includes monthly data on things like food, alcoholic beverages and tobacco, rental housing, utilities, transport and accommodation services.

Annual food prices increase 1.9%

In the year to August, food prices rose 1.9%. This follows a 1.9% rise in the year to July. 

Restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food group continued to be the largest contributor to the annual increases, up 3.2%. 

But fruit and vegetables prices fell 1.6% which Growden said was the largest annual price decrease in the fruit and vegetables group since March 2025.

Price increases were recorded for potatoes, standard two-litre milk, dine-in lunch/brunch and takeaway coffee while price decreases were recorded for tomatoes and fresh eggs.

Monthly food prices up 0.3% in August

Food prices saw a 0.3% increase between July and August. 

Prices for meat, poultry and fish increased 1.7% while the non-alcoholic beverages group dropped 1.4%.

Monthly prices increases were recorded for tomatoes, chicken pieces, onions and hamburgers.

Price decreases were recorded for strawberries, cucumbers, large soft-drink bottles and avocados.

CPI and the Official Cash Rate

For the second monetary policy meeting in a row, the Reserve Bank (RBNZ) raised the Official Cash Rate in September to 2.75% from 2.50%. 

In its September Monetary Policy Statement (MPS), the RBNZ's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) determined that gradually removing monetary stimulus was necessary to return inflation to the RBNZ’s 2% inflation target midpoint and support growth and employment, while avoiding unnecessary instability in output, employment, interest rates and the exchange rate.

The RBNZ has previously hinted strongly at a possible pause at the next OCR review on October 28 but following the latest gross domestic product (GDP) figures, released on Thursday, some economists suggested stronger-than-expected GDP data will likely nudge the central bank towards an increase in October.

Annual inflation, as measured by the CPI increased to 4.1% in the June quarter – the highest annual inflation rate NZ has seen since it hit 4.7% in December 2023. The September quarter CPI is due out on October 22.

In its September MPS, the RBNZ is projecting annual inflation in the September quarter and December quarter to be at 3.9%.

The RBNZ is tasked with maintaining inflation between 1% and 3% based on the CPI, specifically targeting 2%. The OCR is its main tool for doing this.

Here is the detailed SPI information for August as supplied by Statistics New Zealand: