New Zealand's statistics agency said it released erroneous data when publishing first quarter inflation figures to its data portal on Wednesday, including releasing the wrong headline inflation figure.
The error saw incorrect first quarter inflation data published on Stats New Zealand's Infoshare data website, the bureau said in statement. A number of news organisations including Reuters subsequently reported the wrong numbers.
The errors were only on the Infoshare site, which is the quickest way to retrieve released data, and in one CSV file. Stats NZ said all other consumer price index data, key facts and news stories were correct.
"This error is the responsibility of Stats NZ, there was no fault of the wire agencies. We apologise to all affected customers," said Jason Attewell, general manager economic and environment insights at Stats NZ. "The issue was corrected as quickly as possible after Stats NZ became aware."
He said that Stats NZ acknowledges CPI data is widely used, and the incorrect information has wide implications.
"The issue was caused by human error and Stats NZ is reviewing its processes to ensure it doesn't happen again," the statement added.
The New Zealand dollar NZD=D3 fell to an intraday low of $0.5862 from $0.5883 immediately after the data was released before moving higher as markets reacted to the correct data and pared back expectations of a rate cut in the near term.
The correct data showed CPI rose 4.0% on a year-on-year basis but that non-tradeable inflation remained sticky at 5.8%.
