Over a third of businesses expect to increase their prices

Over the next three months, 39 per cent of all businesses expect to increase their prices more than usual, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Nearly all businesses anticipating price increases (97 per cent) said these were being driven by rising non-staff related operating expenses. These included rising fuel and energy costs (88 per cent) and increases to the cost of products and services used by the business (88 per cent).

ABS Head of Industry Statistics, John Shepherd, said: “By industry, results showed 59 per cent of Retail trade businesses expect their prices to increase more than normal over the next three months. The Construction (58 per cent) and Manufacturing (55 per cent) industries were the next most likely to expect price increases.”

The results also provide information about overall changes in business operating expenses.

In March 2022, two in five businesses (40 per cent) had their operating expenses increase over the previous month. This compares to just under a quarter of businesses at the same time last year (24 per cent). 

When considering future operating expenses, the results show that more than a third of businesses expect to see these increase next month (35 per cent) compared to approximately a quarter of businesses in January (26 per cent) and February (23 per cent) of this year.

Further information, as well as insights into supply chain disruptions and the impact of COVID-19 on staff availability, are included in Business Conditions and Sentiments.