it figures

The numbers behind the noise
Cost of Living

A Rotorua Family Spends $297 on Groceries This Week. That's $59 More Than 2020.

While RNZ reports households are freezing spending as bills soar, new Stats NZ data shows the Rest of North Island grocery bill hit $15,443 in 2024. That's a family spending an extra $57 every single week compared to four years ago.

22 February 2026 Stats NZ AI-generated from open data
📰 This story connects government data to current events reported by RNZ, RNZ.

Key Figures

$15,443
Annual grocery spend, Rest of North Island, 2024
A 22.4% increase since 2020, representing $2,828 more per household per year.
$54
Weekly increase since 2020
Every week, households in the region spend $54 more on groceries than they did four years ago.
$1,370 (2022-2023)
Biggest annual jump
The single largest year-on-year increase, adding $26 to weekly grocery bills when inflation peaked.
$81
2024 increase
Even as inflation cooled and interest rates fell, grocery bills still rose, just more slowly.

A family in Rotorua walks out of Countdown with $297 worth of groceries. Same shop, same brands they bought in 2020. Back then, it cost them $238.

That's the reality behind RNZ's report that soaring bills are putting household spending on ice. The Rest of North Island, covering everywhere from Rotorua to Napier to New Plymouth, now spends $15,443 a year on groceries. (Source: Stats NZ, food-price-index-regional)

Four years ago, in 2020, that same household spent $12,615. The difference: $2,828. That's $54 extra every week, every year, with no end in sight.

And 2024 wasn't even the worst year. Between 2022 and 2023, grocery bills jumped $1,370 in a single year. That's when inflation really hit. Families across the central North Island suddenly had $26 less in their wallets every week, and unlike power bills or rates, you can't just turn groceries off.

The plateau in 2024 isn't good news. It's exhaustion. Bills rose another $81, but households are tapped out. They're buying less meat, switching to home brands, skipping the fresh produce. The spending freeze RNZ reported isn't a choice. It's all that's left after the groceries are paid for.

This isn't an Auckland story or a Wellington story. The Rest of North Island covers 22% of New Zealand's population, nearly a million people living in smaller cities and rural towns where wages are lower and options are fewer. No competition between three different supermarkets. No cheap international grocers. Just the duopoly and whatever price they set.

Since 2020, grocery costs in this region have risen 22.4%. Wages haven't kept up. The Reserve Bank has cut interest rates three times. Inflation is officially back under control. But that Rotorua family is still paying $59 more every week than they did four years ago, and every dollar that goes to Countdown is a dollar that doesn't go anywhere else.

That's why household spending is frozen. Not because Kiwis suddenly became cautious. Because the groceries ate everything else.

Related News

Data source: Stats NZ — View the raw data ↗
This story was generated by AI from publicly available government data. Verify figures from the original source before citing.
cost-of-living food-prices north-island household-spending inflation