Wellington, Jul 27 (IANS): New Zealand's cost of living for the average household increased by 7.2 per cent in the 12 months to June 2023, contributed mainly by soaring food prices, the country's statistics department said on Thursday.

This follows a 7.7 per cent increase in the 12 months to March 2023, Xinhua news agency quoted Stats NZ's consumer prices manager James Mitchell as saying.

Food prices increased by 12.7 per cent for the average household, Mitchell said, adding this was the main contributor to higher living costs for most household groups.

"Higher prices for interest payments and grocery food were the biggest contributors to the 7.2 per cent increase," he said, adding these were partly offset by lower prices for private transport supplies and services, such as petrol and diesel, thanks to government subsidies on transport.

Highest-spending households' cost of living increased 7.8 per cent in the 12 months to June 2023.

This compares with 7.2 per cent for the average household, Mitchell said.

The main contributor to this was higher interest payments. Highest-spending households spend proportionally more on interest payments than other household groups, he said.

The cost of living for lowest-spending households was 6.9 per cent in the 12 months to June 2023, statistics show.

The main contributors to this increase were grocery food, rent, fruit and vegetables, and interest payments.

These were partly offset by lower prices for private transport supplies and services, Mitchell said.

Each quarter, the household living-costs price indexes measure how inflation affects 13 different household groups and the average household.

The consumer price index measures how inflation affects New Zealand as a whole, Stats NZ said.