WELLINGTON, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Beneficiary households were the most affected by the rising rent prices in the June 2019 quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand (Stats NZ) on Thursday.

For beneficiary households which are mostly renters, rents were up 1.2 percent for the quarter and 2.9 percent for the year. Compared with average household, this group spends more money on rent and the impact is larger, Stats NZ said.

"Rent makes up approximately one-third of the household expenditure for beneficiary households, compared with around one-tenth for all households," Gael Price, consumer prices manager, said in a statement, adding that the strong rent rises this quarter affected beneficiaries more than any other household group.

Factors contributing to the rising rent prices include strong demand for rentals, as well as increasing costs which landlords pass on to renters, such as insurance premiums, Price said.

Rent prices were up 1.1 percent for the quarter and 2.7 percent for the year for all households, statistics show.

Dwelling insurance and contents insurance prices were both up this quarter and have been rising sharply for the last few years. Both of these impacted on superannuitant households the most, and beneficiary household the least, according to Price.