CAPITAL CITIES COMPARISON




ALL GROUPS

At the all groups level, the CPI rose in all capital cities this quarter. The highest positive movement was in Perth (+0.9%), followed by Darwin (+0.8%). All other cities increased between 0.3% and 0.7%.

The alcohol and tobacco group recorded the largest positive contribution in all cities, with Melbourne (+6.9%) the highest increase followed by Brisbane (+6.5%). All other cities increased between 4.7% and 5.9%. The major contributor to the increase was tobacco prices as a result of the 25% increase in excise tax and some general price rises.

The housing group was the second highest positive contributor to the quarterly movement. The highest increase was in Perth (+1.6%) followed by Canberra (+0.7%). Most of the other cities increased between 0.4% and 0.5% except Adelaide (-0.1%). The increases in most cities were due to rises across all cities in rents and house purchase. The drop in Adelaide was due to a seasonal switch to off-peak pricing for electricity.

The health group was also a major contributor to the quarterly movement. There were increases across all cities with the highest in Adelaide (+3.5%) and the lowest in Perth (+1.2%). The rise was mainly due to the increases in private health fund premiums.

The recreation group was the largest negative contributor to the quarterly movement. The largest decrease was in Hobart (-3.2%) followed by Melbourne (-2.1%) and Sydney (-2.0%). Most of the other cities decreased between 0.6% and 1.8%. Darwin (+0.5%) was the only city to record an increase. Most of the cities saw decreases to domestic holiday travel and accommodation ranging from 13.0% in Hobart to 2.2% in Canberra, the exception being Darwin (+2.4%). Another significant fall was audio, visual and computing equipment (-6.3%) with drops in all cities ranging from 8.2% in Brisbane to 2.0% in Canberra.

Over the twelve months to June quarter 2010, the all groups CPI rose in all capital cities from Perth (+3.5%) to Canberra (+2.3%). The result in Perth is due to relatively higher increases in housing, financial and insurance services and transportation.

CPI, All groups index numbers and percentage changes
	INDEX NUMBER(a)	PERCENTAGE CHANGE
	Jun Qtr 2010	Jun 2009 to Jun 2010	Mar Qtr 2010 to Jun Qtr 2010
Sydney	171.1	2.9	0.4
Melbourne	169.5	3.1	0.6
Brisbane	177.3	3.2	0.7
Adelaide	175.0	2.8	0.7
Perth	173.2	3.5	0.9
Hobart	170.7	3.0	0.4
Darwin	170.1	3.2	0.8
Canberra	172.3	2.3	0.3
Weighted average of eight capital cities	172.1	3.1	0.6
(a) Base of each index: 1989-90 = 100.0.