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Consumer Price Index, Australia

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

Reference period
March 2021
Released
28/04/2021

Key statistics

  • The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.6% this quarter.
  • Over the twelve months to the March 2021 quarter, the CPI rose 1.1%.
  • The most significant price rise was Automotive fuel (+8.7%).
  • The most significant price fall was Furniture (-3.0%).

What's new this quarter

In June 2020, the Commonwealth government announced changes to university student contributions as part of the Job-ready Graduate Package. These changes took effect from 1 January 2021 and are incorporated in the measure of Tertiary education in the March 2021 quarter CPI.

A spotlight article was published on 23 March 2021 highlighting the history of Automotive fuel in the CPI as well as the important events affecting fuel prices and inflation.

Main features

Weighted average of eight capital cities
  Dec Qtr 2020 to Mar Qtr 2021Mar Qtr 2020 to Mar Qtr 2021
  % change% change
All groups CPI0.61.1
Food and non-alcoholic beverages0.40.7
Alcohol and tobacco0.37.9
Clothing and footwear0.50.0
Housing0.1-1.1
Furnishings, household equipment and services-0.22.7
Health2.03.0
Transport3.20.4
Communication0.5-1.9
Recreation and culture-0.21.5
Education0.4-0.1
Insurance and financial services0.10.6
CPI analytical series
 All groups CPI, seasonally adjusted0.51.0
 Trimmed mean0.31.1
 Weighted median0.41.3

Main contributors to change

CPI groups


 

Food and non-alcoholic beverages group (+0.4%)

Alcohol and tobacco group (+0.3%)

Clothing and footwear group (+0.5%)

Housing group (+0.1%)

Furnishings, household equipment and services group (-0.2%)

Health group (+2.0%)

Transport group (+3.2%)

Communication group (+0.5%)

Recreation and culture group (-0.2%)

Education group (+0.4%)

Insurance and financial services group (+0.1%)

International trade exposure - tradable and non-tradables

Seasonally adjusted analytical series

Capital cities comparison

All groups CPI

All groups CPI, All groups index numbers and percentage changes
 Index number(a)Percentage change
 Mar Qtr 2021Dec Qtr 2020 to Mar Qtr 2021Mar Qtr 2020 to Mar Qtr 2021
Sydney118.50.40.9
Melbourne118.80.30.8
Brisbane118.20.61.7
Adelaide117.20.61.2
Perth114.61.41.0
Hobart118.50.81.1
Darwin114.42.62.3
Canberra117.30.91.6
Weighted average of eight capital cities117.90.61.1

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

At the All groups level, the CPI rose in all eight capital cities, ranging from 0.3% in Melbourne to 1.4% in Perth and 2.6% in Darwin.

In all capital cities:

  • Automotive fuel rose, reflecting a further recovery in world oil consumption following large falls in early 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 related lockdowns.
  • Medical & hospital services and Pharmaceutical products rose due to the Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) safety net resetting on 1 January, therefore increasing patients' out-of-pocket expenses.
     

Capital city highlights:

Sydney (+0.4%)

Melbourne (+0.3%)

Brisbane (+0.6%)

Adelaide (+0.6%)

Perth (+1.4%)

Hobart (+0.8%)

Darwin (+2.6%)

Canberra (+0.9%)

Quarterly percentage change by capital city
GroupSydneyMelbourneBrisbaneAdelaidePerthHobartDarwinCanberraWeighted average of eight capital cities
All groups0.40.30.60.61.40.82.60.90.6
Food & non-alcoholic beverages0.30.30.30.41.10.40.30.40.4
Alcohol & tobacco0.00.90.40.20.2-0.20.30.40.3
Clothing & footwear0.90.20.3-0.20.80.20.00.80.5
Housing-0.6-0.50.00.53.20.010.20.30.1
Furnishings, household equipment and services0.4-0.8-0.2-0.60.00.20.30.1-0.2
Health2.02.32.31.21.71.82.22.52.0
Transport3.12.43.25.24.03.13.53.53.2
Communication0.50.40.40.40.50.50.40.40.5
Recreation & culture0.0-0.10.0-1.0-0.80.3-0.70.4-0.2
Education0.7-0.11.2-0.4-0.27.83.92.40.4
Insurance & financial services0.5-0.5-0.60.90.4-1.10.1-0.90.1

Selected tables - capital cities

All groups CPI, index numbers(a)

All groups CPI, percentage changes

Longer term series: all groups CPI, weighted average of eight capital cities, index numbers

Data downloads

Time Series Spreadsheets

Data files

Article archive

Using price indexes

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.

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 6401.0.

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