WELLINGTON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Falling oil prices have driven down New Zealand manufacturing costs even further during the quarter ending March, the government statistics agency said Wednesday.

Input prices (costs paid) for the petroleum and coal product manufacturing industry fell 22 percent in the March quarter, while the prices received by these manufacturers (outputs) fell 18 percent, according to Statistics New Zealand.

"The petroleum and coal product manufacturing industry makes a broad range of fuel products, including petrol, diesel, and aviation fuel," business prices manager Sarah Williams said.

"The output of this industry is an important input to many other industries," Williams said.

"For example, price falls in fuel contributed to a lower cost of production for the transport and construction industries."

Changes in fuel prices also affected farmers, pushing down their input costs by 0.3 percent in the March quarter.

Since the June 2012 quarter, the input prices for the petroleum and coal manufacturing industry had fallen by more than half.