Average Household Expenses in NZ: What New Zealand Households Spend

Three different numbers, three different jobs

When people ask what the average household expenses are in New Zealand, they are usually trying to answer one of three quite different questions. It helps to separate them before looking at any figures.

1. What New Zealand households actually spend. This is measured by Stats NZ in the Household Economic Survey. It is a statistical average of real spending across all categories, including things a lender counts separately.
2. A lender’s minimum household expense allowance. This is a floor used inside a serviceability assessment, covering core living costs only. It is not a measure of what anyone spends; it is a control that stops an assessment being built on an unrealistically low expense figure.
3. Your own household expenses. The actual money leaving your account each month. This is the number you control, and the one worth understanding properly before you apply for a mortgage.

What New Zealand households actually spend

The most recent published expenditure figures come from the Stats NZ Household Economic Survey for the year ended June 2023, drawn from an expenditure sample of roughly 3,384 responding households. Average total weekly household expenditure by household size was:

Source: Stats NZ Household Economic Survey, Expenditure Statistics, year ended June 2023.

By household composition

Household size alone hides a lot. The same survey breaks spending down by who is in the household, which is a closer match to how most people think about their own situation.

Source: Stats NZ Household Economic Survey, Expenditure Statistics, year ended June 2023.

Two cautions about these numbers. They are averages, so half of all households spend more and half spend less. And total expenditure includes housing costs, insurance, rates, vehicle purchases and other items that a lender assesses separately from core living costs. That is why they cannot be dropped straight into a serviceability calculation.

Why household expenditure statistics are used at all

Using statistical expenditure information is not a shortcut invented by lenders. New Zealand’s consumer credit affordability rules contemplate it directly: the regulations allow statistical information about household expenditure to be used for benchmarkable expenses, provided the information is robust, recent and reasonable in the circumstances, and they name the Stats NZ Household Economic Survey as an example of an acceptable statistical source. The relevant provisions include regulations 4AK, 4AM and 4AN.

Source: New Zealand Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Regulations.

What a lender’s minimum household expense allowance looks like

There is no single published household expenditure figure that every New Zealand bank uses, and no bank publishes its current servicing table. What is publicly documented is the kind of information lenders ask for and the way they treat it. BNZ, for example, asks borrowers to disclose regular expenditure across utilities, food and groceries, childcare and education, vehicle and transport costs, activities and hobbies, insurance, rates, clothing, medical costs and other regular expenses, and notes that a lender may also consider a reasonable cost of living for someone in similar circumstances. Westpac publicly separates essential living costs — food, clothing and personal expenses, transport, power, gas, water, internet and phone, state education and childcare, required medical costs — from fixed commitments such as rent or board, child support, rates, property and personal insurance, body corporate fees and private school fees.

The indicative minimum household living expense benchmark used by our own borrowing calculator is set out below. It is a published adviser-style benchmark, not any bank’s internal table:

Source: Blueprint Finance public NZ mortgage calculator methodology, published as indicative minimum living-cost benchmarks, figures stated as at 22 June 2026. Beyond the published rows above we extend the series by $400 per month per additional dependant and treat that as a derived figure, not a published one.

A vehicle running-cost allowance of about $250 per vehicle per month (roughly $3,000 a year) is applied separately from any vehicle finance repayment, and you can replace it with your own figure if you know it.

Which number we use

Our indicative assessment uses your own core living expense figure whenever you enter one. The benchmark for your household is only used when you tell us you would rather not give a figure, or leave it blank. Lenders themselves often assess on the higher of your declared expenses and their own benchmark, which is why their assessment can differ from ours.

Your lender will make its own assessment of your actual expenses and may use different minimum expense assumptions.

Expenses that are counted separately

The core benchmark is intended to cover ordinary day-to-day living: groceries, power and heating, phone and internet, everyday transport, clothing and personal care, basic household costs, healthcare, ordinary costs for dependants and everyday discretionary spending. Items like rates, body corporate fees, home, contents and personal insurances, childcare, child support, private school fees, personal and car loans, Buy Now Pay Later accounts, credit card limits, existing mortgage payments, investment property costs and student loan obligations are collected separately, so they are counted once rather than twice.

Keeping the figures current

Household costs move, so fixed assumptions go stale. The Stats NZ Household Living-Costs Price Index is the practical way to track that between expenditure surveys; the all-households index rose 3.2% in the 12 months to June 2026. We record a source date, a last-checked date and a next review date against every expenditure assumption used in our calculators.

Source: Stats NZ Household Living-Costs Price Index.

Data last reviewed: 2026-09-17. Next scheduled review: 2026-12-17.

How we estimate expenses in our calculators

We use the household expenses you enter. If you don't give us a figure, we use an indicative household expenditure allowance based on your household size instead. Actual lenders use their own serviceability policies and may assess your expenses differently.

You can see this in practice in our mortgage calculator, or check where current rates sit on our rate comparison page.

Common questions

What are average household expenses in New Zealand?

For the year ended June 2023, Stats NZ measured average total weekly household expenditure of about $807.90 for a one-person household, $1,529.60 for two people, $1,861.80 for three people and $2,245.90 for four people. These are averages of what households actually spent, across all spending categories.

Is the Stats NZ figure the same as a bank living expense benchmark?

No. Stats NZ measures actual spending, including items a lender treats separately such as rates, insurance and existing loan payments. A lender's minimum household expense allowance is a floor applied during a serviceability assessment, and it is a different and usually smaller number covering core living costs only.

Which expense figure does a lender use for my mortgage?

New Zealand lenders generally consider both your declared expenses and a household expenditure benchmark, and may assess on the higher of the two. Each lender sets its own policy, so the same household can be assessed differently by different lenders.

Can I lower my expenses to borrow more?

Not by simply entering a smaller number. A minimum household expense allowance applies regardless, so an implausibly low figure will not increase an assessment. Reducing genuine fixed commitments — such as clearing a car loan, a Buy Now Pay Later account or a credit card limit — does change the picture.

How often is household expenditure data updated?

The Household Economic Survey expenditure release runs on a three-yearly cycle, and the Household Living-Costs Price Index tracks cost movements in between. The all-households index rose 3.2% in the 12 months to June 2026, which is why expenditure assumptions need a scheduled review rather than being left fixed.

Stats NZ does not endorse this website or our calculators. Mortgage Calculator NZ provides indicative calculations and general information. It is not a lender and the results are not an approval or offer of finance. Banks and other lenders use their own lending criteria, expense assumptions, assessment rates and credit policies, so the amount you may actually be able to borrow can differ.