Is New Zealand more expensive than Australia?
No. New Zealand's overall price level was 14.3% lower than Australia's in 2025, at market exchange rates (OECD). The basket comparison does not describe every household's costs.
Updated
How expensive each country is for households compared with the United States (US = 100): the purchasing power parity for household consumption divided by the market exchange rate. Above 100 means the same basket of goods and services costs more than in the US at market exchange rates.
Moves with exchange rates: a falling NZ dollar makes NZ look cheaper to foreigners without changing prices for New Zealanders. Compares the average consumption basket; housing, food and fuel can differ more or less than the average.
An annual price change compares prices with the same period a year earlier. Each household buys a different mix of goods and services, so its own cost increase can differ from the national basket.
Read the period beside each number before comparing it with another figure. A monthly observation, a quarterly result and a financial year cover different spans of time. The latest release can also revise earlier observations. The chart and downloads keep the published periods so you can check which figures are being compared. A change in nz and australia prices describes what happened during that period; it does not by itself explain why it happened or identify the effect of a government policy. Definitions and coverage matter as much as the size of a change.
Compare NZ and Australia prices, incomes and health. Price levels use market exchange rates; exchange-rate changes can move the comparison without changing a local price.
New Zealand was 81.6 index in 2024, a year earlier.
The earliest observation on the same basis was 87.4 index in 1990.
NZ and Australia prices: definitions
How expensive each country is for households compared with the United States (US = 100): the purchasing power parity for household consumption divided by the market exchange rate. Above 100 means the same basket of goods and services costs more than in the US at market exchange rates.
- Moves with exchange rates: a falling NZ dollar makes NZ look cheaper to foreigners without changing prices for New Zealanders.
- Compares the average consumption basket; housing, food and fuel can differ more or less than the average.
- Singapore covers 2017–2021 only in the OECD table.
In 2025, the latest period all 4 comparison countries have.
Show the figures
| Period | New Zealand (index) | Australia (index) | United Kingdom (index) | Canada (index) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 79.4 | 92.6 | 89.2 | 85.3 |
| 2024 | 81.6 | 92.7 | 84.3 | 86.0 |
| 2023 | 82.0 | 91.4 | 80.8 | 86.7 |
| 2022 | 84.3 | 98.0 | 82.0 | 90.1 |
| 2021 | 98.0 | 109.5 | 98.0 | 94.8 |
| 2020 | 89.3 | 102.9 | 90.9 | 91.3 |
| 2019 | 92.3 | 106.0 | 93.5 | 94.7 |
| 2018 | 99.9 | 112.9 | 100.7 | 95.1 |
| 2017 | 100.2 | 114.5 | 96.5 | 95.2 |
| 2016 | 99.2 | 108.3 | 101.5 | 92.6 |
| 2015 | 102.4 | 111.5 | 116.4 | 101.0 |
| 2014 | 120.0 | 134.5 | 124.9 | 115.2 |
| 2013 | 118.7 | 142.8 | 117.3 | 123.8 |
| 2012 | 119.1 | 157.5 | 117.3 | 127.7 |
| 2011 | 116.7 | 155.3 | 119.9 | 128.5 |
| 2010 | 106.2 | 138.4 | 114.8 | 122.5 |
| 2009 | 92.1 | 117.3 | 117.1 | 111.2 |
| 2008 | 100.8 | 122.6 | 133.7 | 116.6 |
| 2007 | 106.6 | 119.3 | 144.2 | 113.7 |
| 2006 | 94.5 | 106.6 | 130.6 | 108.5 |
| Country | Value (index) in 2025 |
|---|---|
| New Zealand | 79.4 |
| Australia | 92.6 |
| Canada | 85.3 |
| United Kingdom | 89.2 |
Years as labelled by the OECD (usually calendar years; some countries report financial years). Source: OECD; NZ in Numbers calculation. Lines break at basis changes and missing periods.
NZ and Australia prices: questions for your AI
Download the data, attach it in your assistant, then paste the prompt.
The attached CSV is Cost of living compared: price levels in NZ and other countries, from OECD; NZ in Numbers calculation. Answer: Is New Zealand more expensive than Australia? Name the unit and period. Use only directly supported observations. Definitions: How expensive each country is for households compared with the United States (US = 100): the purchasing power parity for household consumption divided by the market exchange rate. Above 100 means the same basket of goods and services costs more than in the US at market exchange rates. Limits: Moves with exchange rates: a falling NZ dollar makes NZ look cheaper to foreigners without changing prices for New Zealanders. Compares the average consumption basket; housing, food and fuel can differ more or less than the average. Singapore covers 2017–2021 only in the OECD table.
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NZ and Australia prices: sources
The source publication, licence and snapshot used to build this page.
Calculated by NZ in Numbers from OECD, Purchasing power parities and exchange rates.
- Organisation
- OECD; NZ in Numbers calculation, NZ in Numbers calculation
- Licence
- Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Calculated by NZ in Numbers from the source datasets listed; please also credit those sources.
- Snapshot
- SHA256
- 2ceb8c9326eb4aa4e160666a4b4d63755e27e7fa7d36e70b70f8200221468f85
- Retrieved
- 10 October 2026
- Formula
- Price level (US = 100) = PPP for actual individual consumption (local currency per US$) ÷ average market exchange rate (local currency per US$) × 100
- Inputs
- ppp-and-exchange-rates, NZL.A.S1.S1.PPP_P41.F21.XDC_USD.N.T001. Source: OECD, Purchasing power parities and exchange rates. Content hash: cb46c176adf5c346425a45c5a918535aa65feedd701f6bbde9f64cac9b201784.
- ppp-and-exchange-rates, NZL.A.S1.S1.EXC_A.F21.XDC_USD.N.T001. Source: OECD, Purchasing power parities and exchange rates. Content hash: cb46c176adf5c346425a45c5a918535aa65feedd701f6bbde9f64cac9b201784.
- ppp-and-exchange-rates, AUS.A.S1.S1.PPP_P41.F21.XDC_USD.N.T001. Source: OECD, Purchasing power parities and exchange rates. Content hash: cb46c176adf5c346425a45c5a918535aa65feedd701f6bbde9f64cac9b201784.
- ppp-and-exchange-rates, AUS.A.S1.S1.EXC_A.F21.XDC_USD.N.T001. Source: OECD, Purchasing power parities and exchange rates. Content hash: cb46c176adf5c346425a45c5a918535aa65feedd701f6bbde9f64cac9b201784.
- ppp-and-exchange-rates, GBR.A.S1.S1.PPP_P41.F21.XDC_USD.N.T001. Source: OECD, Purchasing power parities and exchange rates. Content hash: cb46c176adf5c346425a45c5a918535aa65feedd701f6bbde9f64cac9b201784.
- ppp-and-exchange-rates, GBR.A.S1.S1.EXC_A.F21.XDC_USD.N.T001. Source: OECD, Purchasing power parities and exchange rates. Content hash: cb46c176adf5c346425a45c5a918535aa65feedd701f6bbde9f64cac9b201784.
- ppp-and-exchange-rates, CAN.A.S1.S1.PPP_P41.F21.XDC_USD.N.T001. Source: OECD, Purchasing power parities and exchange rates. Content hash: cb46c176adf5c346425a45c5a918535aa65feedd701f6bbde9f64cac9b201784.
- ppp-and-exchange-rates, CAN.A.S1.S1.EXC_A.F21.XDC_USD.N.T001. Source: OECD, Purchasing power parities and exchange rates. Content hash: cb46c176adf5c346425a45c5a918535aa65feedd701f6bbde9f64cac9b201784.
- ppp-and-exchange-rates, SGP.A.S1.S1.PPP_P41.F21.XDC_USD.N.T001. Source: OECD, Purchasing power parities and exchange rates. Content hash: cb46c176adf5c346425a45c5a918535aa65feedd701f6bbde9f64cac9b201784.
- ppp-and-exchange-rates, SGP.A.S1.S1.EXC_A.F21.XDC_USD.N.T001. Source: OECD, Purchasing power parities and exchange rates. Content hash: cb46c176adf5c346425a45c5a918535aa65feedd701f6bbde9f64cac9b201784.