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Cost Of Living


New Zealand Lifestyle Costs

New Zealand is a beautiful country, with safety and an incredible lifestyle to offer.  It is quickly becoming a very sought-after country for the lifestyle and opportunities for raising a family.

We would like to help give you a realistic view of the country and the lifestyle you can expect here if you move to New Zealand.  It is important to work out the wages you might expect to receive in a similar job to what you are doing now, together with a realistic expectation of the costs for living in New Zealand, on that income.  Below, you will find data and links to websites to give you information and hopefully help you with your decision, if New Zealand is the right choice for you and your family.

Please feel free to visit our Forums section to discuss the lifestyle with other members who have moved to New Zealand already and how they have found the culture, lifestyle and income.

Our FREE New Zealand Lifestyle Budget may be of assistance to you as you work through this section and can work out your estimated income and expenses in New Zealand.

INCOME

The average New Zealand income for salary/wages of a paid employee is $50,235 gross per annum (source Statistics New Zealand).  You may wish to source specific information about the occupation you wish to work in, in New Zealand, such as:

  • Qualifications required;
  • Hours per week;
  • Roles and Responsibilities;
  • Income;
  • Positions available;

please visit the Careers Services website, it is very informative and helpful.

EXPENSES

The average New Zealand household spends approximately $956.00 per week in expenses.  These expenses are on average allocated as follows:

Expenditure group 

Average weekly household expenditure ($)
Food 

156
Alcoholic beverages, tobacco and illicit drugs 

 27
Clothing and footwear 

 33
Housing and household utilities 

224
Household contents and services 

 51
Health 

 23
Transport 

136
Communication 

 31
Recreation and culture 

 97
Education 

 13
Miscellaneous goods and services 

 94
Other expenditure 

 97
Total gross expenditure 

980
Sales, trade-ins and refunds 

-24
Total net expenditure 

956

 

To assist you creating your own budget for expenses in New Zealand, please find following average costs and links for house prices, accommodation rental prices, groceries, petrol, online shopping and tax rates. 

Median House Prices

The following table illustrates the median house sale prices in August 2008. 

City/Region Median Price NZ$
New Zealand $330,000.00
Auckland $423,500.00
Wellington $375,000.00
Canterbury $290,000.00

If you wish to view houses currently for sale throughout New Zealand, please visit the following websites:

Real Estate New Zealand | Harcourts

Source for statistics on Median House Prices Real Estate Institute of New Zealand.

Rental Accommodation Prices

The following table illustrates the average accommodation rental prices throughout New Zealand from 31 March - 31 August 2008.  The source of this information can be located from Department of Building and Housing website, you may access their website directly to source specific rental prices per city and suburb if you wish too.

Accommodation

Bedrooms

Weekly Rent Average
Apartment

1

$299.00
 

2

$383.00
House

1

$234.00
 

2

$274.00
 

3

$324.00
 

4

$417.00
 

5+

$521.00
Room

1

$161.00
 

2

$223.00

Looking for temporary rental accommodation? 

Holiday Homes is a useful website with fully furnished houses available for rent throughout New Zealand.

Online Groceries

It can be helpful to know how much you can expect to pay for groceries per week.  With the following website links, you can work out “grocery lists” with an exact plan of what you would be likely to purchase and see how much it would come to in New Zealand dollars.

The best part about these websites, is that you can actually arrange for a delivery to be made to your temporary accommodation in New Zealand, for the day that you arrive in the country!  That way you don’t need to go hungry, or worry about it the second you arrive in the country!

For groceries, please visit the following websites:

Woolworths Supermarket | Foodtown

Online Shopping

For examples of personal items to purchase and their cost in New Zealand, please look at the following websites:

Ferrit | TradeMe

Petrol Prices

As with the rest of the world, petrol prices are continually on the rise.  An indication of the petrol prices in New Zealand on 14 September 2008 are:

  • Unleaded 91: $1.99 per litre
  • Premium 95/96: $2.04 per litre

  • Diesel: $1.56 per litre, (plus road user charges)

To view the latest petrol prices in New Zealand per city and petrol company, please visit this up-to-date website Price Watch.

Tax Rates

While Income Tax in New Zealand may appear high in comparison to some other countries, this higher tax creates opportunities in New Zealand for permanent residents and citizens such as:

Income Tax Rates as of 1 October 2008

The following table illustrates the new income tax rates in New Zealand from 1 October 2008:

Income bracket: Tax Rate:
$0.00 to $14,000                12.5%
$14,001 - $40,000              21%
$40,001 - $70,000 33%
$70,001 and over 39%

To work out income tax (PAYE) calculations on a specific wage or salary please visit the IRD PAYE Calculator.

An example of income tax deductions is illustrated by Sarah’s total taxable annual income of $73,145.  The tax is worked out: 

Income bracket: Tax Rate: Tax Payable:
$0.00 to $14,000                12.5% $1,750.00
$14,001 - $40,000              21% $5,459.79
$40,001 - $70,000 33% $9,569.67
$70,001 - $73,145 39% $1,226.16
Total Tax   $18,005.62

In order to work in New Zealand, you must have an IRD Number.  To find out how to obtain your Individual IRD Number, please visit the Banking and Finance Section of our website.

Please feel free to download your very own FREE NZ Lifestly Budget Spreadsheet in our FREE TOOLS section.  This may assist you in working out your specific income and expenses estimate for a lifestyle in New Zealand.

Please feel free to post any questions that you may have in our Forums and we will be happy to answer any questions that we can, together with other migrants registered with our Forums.