MARCH KEY FIGURES

		Dec Qtr 2018 to Mar Qtr 2019	Mar Qtr 2018 to Mar Qtr 2019
Weighted average of eight capital cities		% change	% change
All groups CPI		0.0	1.3
Food and non-alcoholic beverages		1.3	2.3
Alcohol and tobacco		0.3	6.4
Clothing and footwear		-1.4	-0.1
Housing		0.0	0.8
Furnishings, household equipment and services		-0.4	-0.8
Health		1.9	3.1
Transport		-1.7	0.0
Communication		-0.6	-4.6
Recreation and culture		-1.5	0.9
Education		2.7	2.9
Insurance and financial services		-0.2	1.1
CPI analytical series
	All groups CPI, seasonally adjusted	0.1	1.3
	Trimmed mean	0.3	1.6
	Weighted median	0.1	1.2

All Groups CPI, Quarterly change

Contribution to quarterly change

MARCH KEY POINTS


THE ALL GROUPS CPI

• was flat (0.0%) this quarter, compared with a rise of 0.5% in the December quarter 2018.
• rose 1.3% over the twelve months to the March quarter 2019, compared with a rise of 1.8% over the twelve months to the December quarter 2018.

OVERVIEW OF CPI MOVEMENTS

• The most significant price rises this quarter are vegetables (+7.7%), secondary education (+4.2%), motor vehicles (+2.4%) and medical and hospital services (+1.3%).
• The most significant price falls this quarter are automotive fuel (-8.7%), domestic holiday, travel and accommodation (-3.8%) and international holiday, travel and accommodation (-2.1%).

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE (QUARTER)	Release Date
June 2019	31 July 2019
September 2019	30 October 2019
December 2019	29 January 2020
March 2020	29 April 2020

UNDERLYING INFLATION MEASURES

Since 2007 the ABS has produced measures of underlying inflation. An article Underlying Inflation Measures: Explaining the Trimmed Mean and Weighted Median looking at these measures has been included in the Chief Economist series this quarter.


CHANGES IN FUTURE RELEASES

From the June quarter 2019, the ABS will cease publishing a PDF as part of the release of Consumer Price Index, Australia (cat. no. 6401.0). CPI data will be presented in HTML format only on the ABS website. Should you have any concerns regarding this transition, please contact the ABS via email on client.services@abs.gov.au. The June quarter 2019 publication is scheduled for release on 31 July 2019.


ROUNDING

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


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INQUIRIES

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