MARCH KEY FIGURES

		Dec Qtr 2014 to Mar Qtr 2015	Mar Qtr 2014 to Mar Qtr 2015
Weighted average of eight capital cities		% change	% change
All groups CPI		0.2	1.3
Food and non-alcoholic beverages		0.2	1.9
Alcohol and tobacco		0.8	5.2
Clothing and footwear		-1.3	-0.7
Housing		0.8	2.7
Furnishings, household equipment and services		-0.5	1.5
Health		2.5	4.4
Transport		-3.4	-6.2
Communication		-1.4	-4.5
Recreation and culture		0.7	2.0
Education		5.3	5.4
Insurance and financial services		0.2	1.8
CPI analytical series
	All groups CPI, seasonally adjusted	0.3	1.3
	Trimmed mean	0.6	2.3
	Weighted median	0.6	2.4

All Groups CPI, Quarterly change

Contribution to quarterly change

MARCH KEY POINTS


THE ALL GROUPS CPI

• rose 0.2% in the March quarter 2015, compared with a rise of 0.2% in the December quarter 2014.
• rose 1.3% through the year to the March quarter 2015, compared with a rise of 1.7% through the year to the December quarter 2014.

OVERVIEW OF CPI MOVEMENTS

• The most significant price rises this quarter were for domestic holiday travel and accommodation (+3.5%), tertiary education (+5.7%) and medical and hospital services (+2.2%).
• The most significant offsetting price falls this quarter were for automotive fuel (-12.2%) and fruit (-8.0%).

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE (QUARTER)	Release Date
June 2015	22 July 2015
September 2015	28 October 2015
December 2015	27 January 2016
March 2016	27 April 2016

CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE

The Weighted median and Trimmed mean index numbers are now published to four decimal places, and are available in the time series spreadsheet "TABLE 8. CPI: Analytical Series, Weighted Average of Eight Capital Cities". The percentage changes for the Weighted median and Trimmed mean are calculated from these index numbers and continue to be published in "TABLE 8. Analytical Series, Weighted Average of Eight Capital Cities".

Seasonally adjusted indexes for the CPI groups and the trade exposure series, Tradables and Non-tradables, are now included in the time series spreadsheet "TABLE 15. CPI: Group, Expenditure Class and Selected Analytical Series Index Numbers, Seasonally adjusted, Weighted Average of Eight Capital Cities".

Samples of these changes were published on the ABS website on 31 March 2015 in Information Paper: Changes to Publication 6401.0 - Consumer Price Index, Australia (cat. no. 6401.0.55.005).


CHANGES IN FUTURE RELEASES

From the June quarter 2015 issue, the International Comparisons tables will no longer be published. These are "TABLE 9. International comparisons, All groups CPI excluding Housing and Insurance and financial services - Index numbers" and "TABLE 10. International comparisons, All groups CPI excluding Housing and Insurance and financial services - Percentage changes". For international comparisons data, please refer to the OECD publication "Consumer Prices (MEI)" which contains a comprehensive range of statistics for the 34 OECD member countries and for some non-member countries (http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DatasetCode=MEI_PRICES).


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.