Summary

1 - Background information on the design, variables and key definitions used in the Consumers Price Index (CPI) of New Zealand.

2 - Technical details about collection of information, weighting and composition of the basket of goods making up the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Includes the hedonic regression methodology for used cars.

3 - A review of the consumers price index (CPI) was implemented when the September 2011 quarter index was released on 25 October 2011. The review encompassed reselecting and reviewing the basket of representative goods and services, to ensure the basket continues to reflect household spending patterns. Consumers price index review: 2011 provides users of the CPI with the results of the 2011 review of the index. The information paper includes:

• details of changes made to the CPI basket of representative goods and services
• the new CPI expenditure weights
• details of how these weights were derived
• an analysis of the main changes in the weights.