It was the highest annual rate since December 2023, and the quarterly increase the highest since September 2023. The higher petrol prices accounted for about a quarter of the annual inflation rate. Excluding food, fuel and household energy the quarterly inflation rate would have been 0.4 percent and the annual rate 2.5 percent. Various measures of underlying inflation pointed to an annual rate in a range between 2.5 and 3.0 percent. New Zealand's inflation rate was lower than the OECD average of 4.6 percent but trailed Australia, the UK, the US and the European Union.