Pain at pump eases

Petrol and diesel prices decreased between May and June 2026, according to figures released by Stats NZ.

Petrol dropped fell by 4.2 per cent and diesel prices fell by 12.1 per cent to bring some relief at the pump for motorists.

“Fuel prices remained high in June but decreased for a second consecutive month, following increases in March and April,” says Nicola Growden, prices and deflators spokesperson.

In the 12 months to June, prices for these two fuel types increased – petrol was up by 23.6 per cent and diesel rose 57.1 per cent.

Fuel prices are currently collected in two ways by Stats NZ. It uses administrative data for monthly total sales, incorporating discounts, and volumes data directly from some fuel retailers. This excludes business-to-business sales via trade cards. 

Then there’s field collection for the remaining companies. Stats NZ staff collect advertised prices weekly on Thursdays or Fridays from service stations across the country. A limitation with weekly price collection in times of volatility is that it may miss later price movements in a month.