Cost of living remains top concern ahead of 7 November election

Cost of living remains New Zealanders' number one concern ahead of the general election, with voters due to go to the booths on 7 November.

Sixty-three percent of those surveyed put the cost of living as their number one concern ahead of Election '26, while unemployment registered at 21 percent, according to RNZ.

Housing, food and fuel are the immediate household pressures looming large for voters.

Presbyterian Support Northern chief executive Shaun Greaves said the organisation was seeing more working households facing hardship than three years ago. The organisation provides support for people experiencing family violence, mental health distress and food insecurity.

The Salvation Army's State of the Nation report found overall violent crime had decreased but family violence was at its highest since 2018. It estimated 147,000 people were victims of violent crime in the 12 months to August 2025, compared with about 200,000 the previous year.

Other polling has pointed to the same pattern. A Post/Freshwater Strategy poll found 68 percent of voters ranked relieving cost-of-living pressures among their top three concerns, up six points in a month, according to the Waikato Times.

Ipsos has listed inflation and cost of living as the number one issue facing New Zealanders since February 2022, according to Ipsos. Its May monitor put inflation and cost of living at 61 percent, followed by healthcare and hospitals at 39 percent and the economy at 33 percent.

The February Ipsos monitor reported the top five issues were unchanged since October 2025, with inflation and cost of living at 59 percent and healthcare and hospitals at 38 percent.

In Te Tai Hauāuru, voters put the cost of living first at 36 percent, followed by hauora (healthcare) and the environment.