Consumer Price Index, Australia

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The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures household inflation and includes statistics about price change for categories of household expenditure

Reference period
September Quarter 2022
Released
26/10/2022

Key statistics

  • The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1.8% this quarter.

  • Over the twelve months to the September 2022 quarter, the CPI rose 7.3%.

  • The most significant price rises were New dwelling purchases by owner-occupiers (+3.7%), Gas and other household fuels (+10.9%) and Furniture (+6.6%).

What's new this quarter

Following the information paper Introducing a monthly CPI indicator, today marks the first release of the monthly CPI indicator publication. The next release of the monthly CPI indicator (for October 2022 month) will be 30 November.

The quarterly CPI is Australia’s key measure of inflation. This is different to the monthly CPI indicator which is available in the monthly CPI indicator publication. It should be noted that in contrast to the quarterly CPI which is only revised in exceptional circumstances, the monthly CPI indicator may be routinely subject to revision.

Measuring Rents in the CPI

New data source

  • As outlined in the ABS’ information paper Introducing a monthly CPI indicator for Australia, from July 2022 the ABS has incorporated a new data source to measure the Rents series in the monthly CPI indicator and the quarterly CPI.
  • The Rents series prior to July 2022 was measured on a quarterly basis using a survey of approximately 4,000 rental properties collected directly from real estate agents.
  • The new dataset obtained by the ABS is updated monthly and includes approximately 480,000 rental properties that are used to produce the CPI Rents series across all capital cities.

Further information on how CPI measures the Rents series can be found in the Article archive.

Main features

Weighted average of eight capital cities
 Jun Qtr 2022 to Sep Qtr 2022Sep Qtr 2021 to Sep Qtr 2022
% change% change
All groups CPI1.87.3
Food and non-alcoholic beverages3.29.0
Alcohol and tobacco1.24.0
Clothing and footwear-0.25.3
Housing3.210.5
Furnishings, household equipment and services2.87.7
Health0.32.7
Transport-0.49.2
Communication1.42.0
Recreation and culture1.35.0
Education0.04.6
Insurance and financial services1.34.2
CPI analytical series
 All groups CPI, seasonally adjusted1.87.3
 Trimmed mean1.86.1
 Weighted median1.45.0

Overview

Annual CPI inflation the highest since 1990

The annual CPI movement of 7.3 per cent is the highest since 1990. The past four quarters have seen strong quarterly rises off the back of higher prices for new dwelling construction, automotive fuel and food. Trimmed mean annual inflation, which excludes large price rises and falls, increased to 6.1 per cent, the highest since the ABS first published the series in 2003.

Goods continue to drive inflation

Goods accounted for a little over three quarters of the 7.3% rise in the CPI over the past year, reflecting high freight costs, supply constraints and prolonged elevated demand. 

High construction costs continue to drive increased prices for new dwellings

High levels of building construction activity and ongoing shortages of labour and materials continue to drive higher prices for new dwellings. Although the rate of price growth eased somewhat this quarter compared to the highs seen in recent quarters, in annual terms, the series recorded the largest rise since it commenced in 1999.  

Fewer payments of government construction grants compared to the previous quarter also contributed to the rise this quarter. These grants have the effect of reducing out-of-pocket expenses for new dwelling purchases. 

Rent prices picking up in Sydney and Melbourne

The rate of rental price growth in Sydney and Melbourne has increased this quarter following a period of subdued growth since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. This is the third consecutive quarter of rises for these two capital cities, consistent with falling vacancy rates. 

Compared to Sydney and Melbourne, the remaining capital cities have recorded higher increases in rent prices reflecting historically low vacancy rates.

Grocery prices rise further

Strong price rises were seen across all food and non-food grocery products in the September quarter. These increases reflected a range of price pressures including supply chain disruptions, weather-related events, such as flooding, and increased transport and input costs. In the 12 months to the September quarter fruit and vegetables prices rose 16.2% and dairy products increased 12.1%.

Automotive fuel prices fall for the first time in two years

Automotive fuel prices fell -4.3% in the September quarter as global oil prices have softened. The annual movement in the September quarter remains elevated at 18.0%, however is down from the peak in the March 2022 quarter of 35.1%.

The restoration of the fuel excise to 46 cents per litre, up from 22 cents per litre, on 30 September will contribute to fuel prices in the December quarter.

Non-discretionary inflation reaches a new high

Non-discretionary annual inflation increased to 8.4% in the September quarter, up from 7.6% in the June quarter. This continues to be well above Discretionary annual inflation of 5.5%.

Non-discretionary inflation includes goods and services that households are less likely to reduce their consumption of, such as food, automotive fuel, housing, utilities and health costs, which have all risen in prices over the past 12 months.

Main contributors to change

CPI groups


 

Food and non-alcoholic beverages group (+3.2%)

Alcohol and tobacco group (+1.2%)

Clothing and footwear group (-0.2%)

Housing group (+3.2%)

Furnishings, household equipment and services group (+2.8%)

Health group (+0.3%)

Transport group (-0.4%)

Communication group (+1.4%)

Recreation and culture group (+1.3%)

Education group (0.0%)

Insurance and financial services group (+1.3%)

International trade exposure - tradable and non-tradables

Discretionary and non-discretionary inflation

Underlying inflation series

Seasonally adjusted analytical series

Capital cities comparison

All groups CPI

All groups CPI, All groups index numbers and percentage changes
 Index number(a)Percentage change (%)
 Sep Qtr 2022Jun Qtr 2022 to Sep Qtr 2022Sep Qtr 2021 to Sep Qtr 2022
Sydney128.62.37.0
Melbourne129.02.17.4
Brisbane130.21.87.9
Adelaide128.62.68.4
Perth124.8-0.56.0
Hobart130.52.38.6
Darwin125.51.97.0
Canberra128.01.96.9
Weighted average of eight capital cities128.41.87.3

a. Index reference period: 2011-12 = 100.0.

In all capital cities:

  • New dwelling purchase by owner occupiers (+3.7%) rose, albeit more weakly than last quarter (+5.6%). Shortages of building supplies and labour, high freight costs and ongoing strong construction activity continued to contribute to price rises for new dwellings. The largest rises were recorded in Adelaide (+6.8%) and Hobart (+6.7%).
  • Gas and other household fuels (+10.9%) rose due to higher wholesale gas prices. The largest rises were recorded in Adelaide (+17.5%), Sydney (+15.0%) and Melbourne (+11.0%).
  • Furniture (+6.6%) rose due to increased freight and labour costs, supply chain issues and rising material (especially timber and aluminium) costs. The largest rises were recorded in Canberra (+9.8%), Adelaide (+9.5%), Melbourne (+8.7%) and Sydney (+7.3%)
  • Takeaway and fast foods (+3.3%) rose due to price increases for menu items (higher input and raw material costs), higher wages and a reduction in government-funded dining voucher schemes. The largest rises were in Sydney (+4.0%), Perth (+3.5%) and Melbourne (+3.4%).
  • Automotive fuel (-4.3%) fell due to reductions in crude oil prices and refining margins amidst global supply reaching levels not seen since the start of the pandemic. The largest falls were recorded in Adelaide (-6.4%), Perth (-5.8%) and Sydney (-5.2%), with an offsetting rise in Canberra (+0.7%).

Capital city highlights:

At the All groups level, the CPI rose in all eight capital cities, ranging from 1.6% in Sydney and Canberra to 2.1% in Adelaide, Brisbane and Darwin.

 

Sydney (+2.3%)

Melbourne (+2.1%)

Brisbane (+1.8%)

Adelaide (+2.6%)

Perth (-0.5%)

Hobart (+2.3%)

Darwin (+1.9%)

Canberra (+1.9%)

Quarterly percentage change by capital city
GroupSydneyMelbourneBrisbaneAdelaidePerthHobartDarwinCanberraWeighted average of eight capital cities
All groups2.32.11.82.6-0.52.31.91.91.8
Food & non-alcoholic beverages3.33.52.73.13.43.13.42.73.2
Alcohol & tobacco1.11.11.41.21.61.51.41.51.2
Clothing & footwear0.3-0.9-0.30.00.4-0.2-1.0-1.6-0.2
Housing5.24.13.46.2-7.44.71.61.93.2
Furnishings, household equipment and services3.13.22.13.62.33.02.63.82.8
Health-0.10.20.50.10.80.30.30.90.3
Transport-0.4-0.1-0.7-1.5-1.10.80.52.0-0.4
Communication1.41.41.31.31.41.31.41.61.4
Recreation & culture0.90.82.01.41.91.63.92.61.3
Education0.1-0.20.00.40.00.00.50.10.0
Insurance & financial services0.61.92.52.41.01.11.7-0.91.3

Selected tables - capital cities

All groups CPI, index numbers(a)

All groups CPI, percentage changes

Longer term series: all groups CPI, weighted average of eight capital cities, index numbers

Data downloads

Time Series Spreadsheets

Data files

Additional information

The Tasmanian Government announced a one-off $119 Winter Bill Buster discount to eligible electricity concession account holders from 1 August 2022. The impact of this electricity rebate will be shown in the December 2022 quarter. 

Post-release changes

3 November 2022 - Please note the Additional Information above.

31 October 2022 - Table 14 in Data Downloads was updated following a correction to forward seasonal adjustment factors for December 2022 quarter. These corrections only applied to series that are not seasonally adjusted.

Article archive

Measuring Rents in the CPI

Using price indexes

Price indexes in contracts

Price indexes published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) provide summary measures of the movements in various categories of prices over time. They are published primarily for use in Government economic analysis. Price indexes are also often used in contracts by businesses and government to adjust payments and/or charges to take account of changes in categories of prices (Indexation Clauses).

Use of Price Indexes in Contracts sets out a range of issues that should be taken into account by parties considering including an Indexation Clause in a contract using an ABS published price index.

Frequently asked questions

The Frequently Asked Questions page has answers to a number of common questions to do with price indexes and the Consumer Price Index in particular.

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 6401.0.

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