The Consumer Price Index rose 2.2 per cent in the September quarter — bringing annual inflation to 4.9 per cent.
NZ Herald Business Editor Liam Dann told Kerre McIvor excluding quarters impacted by GST increases, it's the highest since June 1987.
“That is a bit of a shock, surging past what economists had dared to forecast.”
The main drivers were housing-related costs such as construction and local authority rates.
Prices for new house construction were up 12 per cent in the year.
Local authority rates and payments rose 7.1 per cent in the quarter.
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