The cost of living in New Zealand is lower than in most other western countries.
According to the 2004 World Competitiveness Yearbook (the latest available), a basket of goods and services (excluding housing) that would cost US$100 in New York City would cost $61.95 in New Zealand, $62.46 in Australia, $76.45 in France and $81.77 in the United Kingdom.
Mercer Human Resource Consulting also carries out an annual cost of living survey of 144 cities across six continents. The survey measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.
New Zealand cities ranked at the cheaper end of the scale of the 144 cities surveyed in 2006. Moscow is the world?s most expensive city, followed by Seoul and Tokyo. New Zealand?s cities Auckland and Wellington ranked 100th and 105th respectively. London ranked 5th, Sydney 19th and Los Angeles 29th.
New Zealand manufactures a wide range of competitively priced consumer goods of a similar style and standard to those found overseas. The items we do import such as motor vehicles, electrical and computer equipment and petroleum products are on a par and, in many cases, cheaper than other comparable countries.