Inflation now rising faster in Australia than in NZ

Wednesday, 27 April 2022

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Grant Robertson sat down with Stuff to talk inflation, the budget and why Labour is sticking to its guns on long-term spending. (Video first published April 24, 2022)

Kiwis hoping to escape inflation by moving to Australia or holidaying there may be in for a disappointment.

Price rises in Australia outstripped those in New Zealand in the first three months of this year, figures released by Australia’s Bureau of Statistics show.

Annual inflation in the year to the March quarter is still higher in New Zealand, at 6.9%, than in Australia, where annual inflation over the same period reached 5.1%.

But the two countries’ latest figures show price rises in Australia overtook those in New Zealand in the first three months of this year, with quarter-on-quarter inflation hitting 2.1% in Australia and 1.8% in New Zealand.

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Annual inflation in Australia was up from 3.5% in the December quarter and ahead of market expectations, whereas the jump in annual inflation from 5.9% to 6.9% in the most recent quarter in New Zealand was a little below market forecasts.

As in New Zealand, a surge in the price of new houses and petrol were among the biggest contributors to higher prices in Australia.

Jarden’s chief economist in Australia, Carlos Cacho, said it was important to note annual inflation for essential items was running at 6.6% “highlighting the cost of living pressure currently hitting Australian households”.

Annual inflation stands at a 31-year high in New Zealand and a 21-year high in Australia, but may be converging at a similar level.

Capital Economics economist Marcel Thieliant forecast annual inflation in Australia would top 6% before it fell and would prompt Australia’s Reserve Bank to hike its official cash rate – which currently stands at just 0.1% – to 0.5% in June.

That rate hike would be after the Australian federal election on May 21, though some economists are now tipping a higher chance of a rate rise before the election in the wake of the inflation figure.

BNZ research head Stephen Toplis has said the jury is out on whether annual inflation will top 7% in New Zealand later this year.

The average annual rate of inflation across the OECD stood at 7.7% in February, up from an annual rate of just 1.7% in February last year.