MARCH KEY FIGURES

	Dec Qtr 2010 to Mar Qtr 2011	Mar Qtr 2010 to Mar Qtr 2011
Weighted average of eight capital cities	% change	% change
Food	2.9	4.3
Alcohol and tobacco	1.1	11.2
Clothing and footwear	-0.7	-1.3
Housing	1.3	4.8
Household contents and services	-1.6	-0.5
Health	3.9	4.1
Transportation	2.7	3.0
Communication	0.1	-0.2
Recreation	-0.6	-1.5
Education	5.7	5.9
Financial and insurance services	2.6	2.8
All groups	1.6	3.3
All groups excluding Housing and Financial and insurance services	1.5	2.9

All Groups, Quarterly change

Contribution to quarterly change - March Quarter 2011

MARCH KEY POINTS


THE ALL GROUPS CPI

• rose 1.6% in the March quarter 2011, compared with a rise of 0.4% in the December quarter 2010.
• rose 3.3% through the year to the March quarter 2011, compared with a rise of 2.7% through the year to the December quarter 2010.

OVERVIEW OF CPI MOVEMENTS

• The most significant price rises this quarter were for automotive fuel (+8.8%), vegetables (+16.0%), deposit and loan facilities (+4.6%), fruit (+14.5%) and pharmaceuticals (+12.5%).
• The most significant offsetting price falls were for furniture (-6.2%), audio, visual and computing equipment (-7.2%), milk (-6.2%), overseas holiday travel and accommodation (-1.6%) and motor vehicles (-0.5%).

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE (QUARTER)	Release Date
June 2011	27 July 2011
September 2011	26 October 2011
December 2011	25 January 2012
March 2012	24 April 2012

OUTCOME OF THE 16TH SERIES CPI REVIEW

The ABS recently completed an extensive review of its CPI and has announced changes to ensure the CPI continues to meet the requirements of the Australian community. An Information Paper: Introduction of the 16th Series Australian Consumer Price Index (cat. no. 6467.0) will be published on 22 September 2011 outlining the changes to the CPI.

One outcome of the review is the discontinuation of Average Retail Prices of Selected Items, Eight Capital Cities (cat. no. 6403.0.55.001). The June quarter 2011 release will be the final issue.

The 16th series CPI will be introduced from the September quarter 2011. For more details about changes to the CPI, please refer to Information Paper: Outcome of the 16th Series Australian Consumer Price Index Review (cat. no. 6469.0), or www.abs.gov.au.


IMPACT OF THE FLOODS AND CYCLONE YASI

ABS price index compilation methodologies and quality assurance processes have ensured that any impact of the floods and cyclone on consumer prices is reflected in the data included in this publication. See the section Impact of the floods and Cyclone Yasi for details.


ROUNDING

Any discrepancies between totals and sums of components in this publication are due to rounding.


INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.