Consumer Price Index, Australia

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The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of household inflation and includes statistics about price change for categories of household expenditure

Reference period
December 2019
Released
29/01/2020

Key statistics

  • The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.7% this quarter.
  • Over the twelve months to the December 2019 quarter the CPI rose 1.8%.
  • International holiday, travel and accommodation fell -2.9%.
  • Tobacco (+8.4%), automotive fuel (+4.4%) and fruit (+6.8%) all rose.

Main features

All groups CPI, quarterly change

All groups CPI, quarterly change

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The chart has 1 Y axis displaying %. Data ranges from -0.2 to 1.4.
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Weighted average of eight capital citiesSep Qtr 2019 to
Dec Qtr 2019
Dec Qtr 2018 to
Dec Qtr 2019
% change% change
All groups CPI0.71.8
Food and non-alcoholic beverages1.32.6
Alcohol and tobacco3.06.5
Clothing and footwear-0.31.4
Housing0.10.2
Furnishings, household equipment and services-0.31.1
Health-0.33.2
Transport1.52.8
Communication-1.0-3.8
Recreation and culture0.91.5
Education0.12.9
Insurance and financial services0.40.7
CPI analytical series  
 All groups CPI, seasonally adjusted0.61.8
 Trimmed mean0.41.6
 Weighted median0.41.3

Contribution to quarterly change

Contribution to quarterly change

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Changes in this and future releases

This issue includes the introduction of updated weighting patterns using 2017-18 Household Final Consumption Expenditure data available from the Australian System of National Accounts (cat. no. 5204.0). For more details on these changes and the updated weighting patterns, refer to Information Paper: Introduction of the Consumer Price Index Weight Update (cat. no. 6470.0.55.002). The information paper also contains a feature article on Quality Change in the Australian CPI.

The CPI Annual Seasonal Re-analysis (ASR) was conducted in the December quarter 2019. The ASR assesses the CPI seasonal patterns in more detail than is possible in the quarterly processing cycle. The outcomes of the ASR are provided in the Appendix to this issue.

Changes to the seasonally adjusted CPI series do not affect the original CPI series.

For more information about seasonal adjustment, see methodology page.

Main contributors to change

CPI groups

The discussion of the CPI groups below is ordered in terms of their absolute significance to the change in All groups index points for the quarter (see Tables 6 and 7). Unless otherwise stated, the analysis is in original terms.

Weighted average of eight capital cities, percentage change from previous quarter

Weighted average of eight capital cities, percentage change from previous quarter

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Capital cities comparison

All groups CPI

All groups CPI, percentage change from previous quarter

All groups CPI, percentage change from previous quarter

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The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.7% this quarter in original terms and rose 0.6% in seasonally adjusted terms. Annually, the CPI rose 1.8%.

  • At the All groups level, all capital cities recorded a rise this quarter ranging from Darwin (+0.2%) to Hobart (+1.7%).
  • Annually at the All groups level, all capital cities rose ranging from Darwin (0.5%) to Hobart (+2.7%).
  • Food and non-alcoholic beverages has risen in all capital cities this quarter ranging from 0.9% in Adelaide, Darwin and Canberra, to 1.5% in Sydney and Melbourne. Lower seasonal supply and adverse weather, particularly drought conditions, are seeing price rises for fruit and vegetables (+3.5%) and dairy and related products (+1.3%), while strong international demand, combined with drought conditions is leading to price rises for meat and seafoods (+1.5%).
  • Transport rose in all capital cities this quarter mainly due to price rises for automotive fuel following higher global oil prices. Automotive fuel increases ranged from 2.3% in Darwin to 5.4% in Sydney.
  • Housing recorded rises in all capital cities this quarter with the exception of Sydney (-0.3%) and Darwin (-0.4%). Sydney had price falls for new dwelling purchases by owner-occupiers, rents and utilities. Hobart (+1.2%) recorded the strongest rise for housing this quarter due to strong price increases for new dwelling purchases by owner-occupiers and rents.
     

All groups CPI, all groups index numbers and percentage changes

 Index number(a)                       Percentage change
Dec Qtr 2019Sep Qtr 2019 to
Dec Qtr 2019
Dec Qtr 2018 to
Dec Qtr 2019
Sydney117.10.51.6
Melbourne116.90.92.0
Brisbane116.30.72.0
Adelaide115.40.82.1
Perth113.10.41.6
Hobart116.71.72.7
Darwin111.50.20.5
Canberra115.00.61.7
Weighted average of eight capital cities116.20.71.8

a. Index reference period: 2011-12 = 100.0.
 

Main contributors by city:

Use of price indexes in contracts

Price indexes published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) provide summary measures of the movements in various categories of prices over time. They are published primarily for use in Government economic analysis. Price indexes are also often used in contracts by businesses and government to adjust payments and/or charges to take account of changes in categories of prices (Indexation Clauses).

Use of Price Indexes in Contracts that sets out a range of issues that should be taken into account by parties considering including an Indexation Clause in a contract using an ABS published price index.

Frequently asked questions

The Frequently Asked Questions page that has answers to a number of common questions to do with price indexes and the Consumer Price Index, in particular.

Article archive

Selected tables - capital cities

Data downloads

Tables 1 and 2. CPI - all groups, index numbers and percentage changes

Tables 3 and 4. CPI - groups, weighted average of eight capital cities, index numbers and percentage changes

Table 5. CPI - groups, index numbers by capital city

Table 6. CPI - group, sub-group and expenditure class contribution to change in all groups indexes, by capital city

Table 7. CPI - group, sub-group and expenditure class, weighted average of eight capital cities

Table 8. CPI - analytical series, weighted average of eight capital cities

History of changes