MARCH KEY FIGURES

		Dec Qtr 2016 to Mar Qtr 2017	Mar Qtr 2016 to Mar Qtr 2017
Weighted average of eight capital cities		% change	% change
All groups CPI		0.5	2.1
Food and non-alcoholic beverages		-0.2	1.8
Alcohol and tobacco		1.1	6.1
Clothing and footwear		-1.4	0.3
Housing		0.8	2.5
Furnishings, household equipment and services		-1.0	-0.1
Health		2.0	3.8
Transport		1.5	3.8
Communication		-0.3	-4.8
Recreation and culture		-0.7	-0.2
Education		3.1	3.3
Insurance and financial services		0.6	2.7
CPI analytical series
	All groups CPI, seasonally adjusted	0.5	2.1
	Trimmed mean	0.5	1.9
	Weighted median	0.4	1.7

All Groups CPI, Quarterly change

Contribution to quarterly change

MARCH KEY POINTS


THE ALL GROUPS CPI

• rose 0.5% this quarter, compared with a rise of 0.5% in the December quarter 2016.
• rose 2.1% over the twelve months to the March quarter 2017, compared with a rise of 1.5% over the twelve months to the December quarter 2016.

OVERVIEW OF CPI MOVEMENTS

• The most significant price rises this quarter are automotive fuel (+5.7%), new dwelling purchase by owner-occupiers (+1.0%), medical and hospital services (+1.6%) and electricity (+2.5%).
• The most significant offsetting price falls this quarter are international holiday travel and accommodation (-3.8%), fruit (-6.7%) and furniture (-3.5%).

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE (QUARTER)	Release Date
June 2017	26 July 2017
September 2017	25 October 2017
December 2017	31 January 2018
March 2018	24 April 2018

CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE

Implementation of the changes outlined in the December quarter 2016 feature article Measuring Price Change of Attached Dwellings in the CPI are included in this publication. These changes see the inclusion of dwellings such as apartments and townhouses in the measurement of price change for the new dwelling purchase by owner-occupiers expenditure class. These changes do not result in any changes to the published series in this publication.


ROUNDING

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


INQUIRIES

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