$100 in 1979 is worth $723 today
What New Zealand dollars from 1979 are worth in 2025 money, adjusted for inflation with the official price index from the OECD, from Stats NZ.
1979 money in 2025 money
- Prices since
- +623.2%
- Per year
- +4.39% compounded
- Multiplier
- ×7.232
| In 1979 | Worth in 2025 |
|---|---|
| $1 | $7.23 |
| $5 | $36.16 |
| $10 | $72.32 |
| $20 | $145 |
| $50 | $362 |
| $100 | $723 |
| $1,000 | $7,232 |
| $10,000 | $72,319 |
OECD, from Stats NZ — Consumers Price Index, all groups, 2015 = 100. Retrieved 2026-08-06. Open in the calculator to compare any two years.
Inflation in 1979
Prices in New Zealand rose 13.7% during 1979, the 9th highest rate in all 75 years this series covers. Across the 1970s, prices rose an average of 11.5% a year, peaking at 16.9% in 1976.
| Year | Rate | Bar |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | +6.5% | |
| 1971 | +10.4% | |
| 1972 | +6.9% | |
| 1973 | +8.2% | |
| 1974 | +11.1% | |
| 1975 | +14.7% | |
| 1976 | +16.9% | |
| 1977 | +14.4% | |
| 1978 | +12.0% | |
| 1979 | +13.7% |
How far the New Zealand dollar has fallen since 1979
A New Zealand dollar in 2025 buys about 13.8% of what one bought in 1979, a loss of 86.2% of its buying power. Prices had doubled from their 1979 level by 1985, 6 years later. Read the other way, here is what today's money would have been in 1979:
| In 2025 | Same as, in 1979 |
|---|---|
| $10 | $1.38 |
| $20 | $2.77 |
| $50 | $6.91 |
| $100 | $13.83 |
| $1,000 | $138 |
| $10,000 | $1,383 |
What these numbers can and cannot tell you
The figures compare the price index in 1979 with 2025: the cost of the same broad basket of goods and services, averaged across each year. That is the right measure for "what would this amount be in today's money" — a wage, a price, an inheritance. It is not a measure of what any particular thing cost: housing, education, and healthcare have mostly risen faster than the average, while electronics and clothing have risen far slower or fallen. And it says nothing about exchange rates, so it cannot turn 1979 New Zealand dollars into another currency.
Common questions
How much is $100 from 1979 worth today?
$100 in 1979 is worth about $723 in 2025 money, adjusted with the official price index published by the OECD, from Stats NZ. Prices have risen 623.2% over that span, an average of 4.39% a year compounded.
What was the inflation rate in 1979?
Prices in New Zealand rose 13.7% during 1979, the 9th highest rate in all 75 years this series covers. That is the change in the annual average of the index from 1978 to 1979, which is the basis statistics agencies use for long-run comparison; a news headline quoting a twelve-month change at a particular point in 1979 may differ.
How much buying power has the New Zealand dollar lost since 1979?
About 86.2%. Put the other way round, $100 in 2025 would have bought what $13.83 bought in 1979. Prices had doubled from their 1979 level by 1985, 6 years later.
1979 in other countries: United States , United Kingdom , Canada , Australia .