This graph is taken from a pamphlet by a New Zealand school inspector, J. W. McIlraith, in 1911. The pamphlet was the first serious examination of price falls and rises in the country. McIlraith’s graph shows clearly that in general prices fell over the second half of the 19th century, and that New Zealand prices followed very closely the changes in England. The one notable exception came in the 1860s when the large gold production in New Zealand led to an increase in the money supply and therefore a few years of price inflation.
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Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Reference:
James W. Mcllraith, The course of prices in New Zealand: an inquiry into the nature and causes of the variations in the standard of value in New Zealand. Wellington: Government Printer, 1911
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