Producer input prices in New Zealand declined 0.9 percent on quarter in the first quarter of 2019, following a 1.6 percent rise in the previous period and well below market expectations of a 1.6 percent increase. It was the first fall in producer input prices since the first quarter of 2016, as cost dropped for utilities (-9.8 percent from 19.9 percent in Q4 2018), namely electricity & gas supply (-11.5 percent); manufacturing (-1.8 percent from 0.2 percent), of which petroleum & coal products (-15.6 percent); mining (-1.2 percent from 2.3 percent); agriculture, forestry & fishing (-0.1 percent from 1.3 percent); construction (-0.1 percent from 0.7 percent); and transport, postal & warehousing (-1.2 percent from 0.9 percent). Also, prices eased for information & telecommunications (0.7 percent from 1.2 percent); and financial & insurance services (0.6 percent from 1.1 percent). Output prices went down 0.5 percent, after a downwardly revised 0.7 percent increase in the prior period. Producer Prices in New Zealand averaged 696.14 Index Points from 1977 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 1140 Index Points in the third quarter of 2018 and a record low of 165.78 Index Points in the fourth quarter of 1977.
Producer Prices in New Zealand is expected to be 1160.00 Index Points by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Producer Prices in New Zealand to stand at 1078.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the New Zealand Producer Input Prices is projected to trend around 1190.00 Index Points in 2020, according to our econometric models.