Monthly Consumer Price Index Indicator

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The monthly CPI indicator is a measure of inflation and includes statistics about prices for categories of households expenditure

Reference period
December 2023
Released
31/01/2024

Key statistics

  • The monthly CPI indicator rose 3.4% in the 12 months to December.
  • The most significant price rises were Housing (+5.2%), Food and non-alcoholic beverages (+4.0%), Alcohol and tobacco (+6.8%) and Insurance and financial services (+8.2%).

What's new this month

Update to the CPI weights next month

The CPI weights are updated each year to ensure the weights used in the CPI basket reflect contemporary household spending patterns. Previously the weights have been updated in October. Starting from 2024, the CPI weights will be updated in January each year. The updated CPI weights will be published at the same time as the January Monthly CPI indicator release on 28 February 2024.

Main features

Weighted average of eight capital cities, annual movement
 Oct 22 to Oct 23 % changeNov 22 to Nov 23 % changeDec 22 to Dec 23 % change
All groups monthly CPI4.94.33.4
Food and non-alcoholic beverages5.34.64.0
 Bread and cereal products8.58.37.7
 Meat and seafood1.80.2-1.9
 Dairy and related products7.86.15.2
 Fruit and vegetables1.00.7-2.2
 Food products n.e.c.6.26.66.8
 Non-alcoholic beverages3.45.47.1
Alcohol and tobacco6.66.46.8
 Alcohol4.54.24.6
 Tobacco10.410.510.8
Clothing and footwear-1.5-0.9-0.8
 Garments-1.7-0.4-0.4
Housing6.16.65.2
 Rents6.67.17.4
 New dwelling purchases by owner-occupiers4.75.55.1
 Electricity10.110.70.4
 Gas and other household fuels13.012.98.5
Furnishings, household equipment and services0.4-0.3-0.3
Health6.35.24.7
Transport5.93.63.6
 Automotive fuel8.62.35.3
Communications1.82.42.0
Recreation and culture2.71.2-2.4
 Holiday travel and accommodation1.3-0.3-9.1
Education4.84.84.7
Insurance and financial services8.68.88.2
CPI analytical series   
 Seasonally adjusted4.94.53.4
 CPI excluding volatile items** and holiday travel5.14.84.2
 Annual Trimmed mean5.34.64.0

** = Volatile items are Fruit and vegetables and Automotive fuel

Monthly Overview

The monthly CPI indicator rose 3.4% in the 12 months to December, down from the rise of 4.3% in November.

The annual movement for the monthly CPI indicator excluding volatile items and holiday travel rose 4.2% in December, down from the rise of 4.8% in November. This series excludes Fruit and vegetables, Automotive fuel, and Holiday travel and accommodation.

Annual trimmed mean inflation was 4.0% in December, down from the rise of 4.6% in November.

*Volatile items are Fruit and vegetables and Automotive fuel

New dwellings and Rents

New dwelling prices rose 5.1% in the 12 months to December, down from 5.5% in November. The rate of price growth remains lower compared to the price growth recorded over 2022, reflecting improvements in the supply of materials and subdued new demand. 

Rental prices increased 7.4% in the 12 months to December 2023, up from 7.1% in November. The rise in rents continues to reflect strong demand for rental properties and tight rental markets.
 

Electricity

Electricity prices rose 0.4% in the 12 months to December 2023, down from a rise of 10.7% in November. The annual movement was impacted by base effects, with the monthly price rise of 4.0% in December 2022 no longer contributing to the December 2023 annual movement.

Electricity prices fell 5.7% in the month of December 2023, down from a rise of 0.4% in November. The fall was driven by the introduction of the second instalment of the Energy Bill Relief Fund rebates for all households in Perth.

The Electricity series was updated with monthly prices from October 2021 onwards. Annual movements prior to October 2022 are calculated using base periods where prices were updated quarterly in month 3, with carry forward imputation used in the months where prices were not updated.

Energy Bill Relief Fund rebates introduced from July 2023 have moderated the increase in electricity bills for households across Australia.

Electricity prices have risen 2.6% since June 2023. Excluding the Energy Bill Relief Fund rebates, Electricity prices would have increased 18.0% over this period.

The following graph shows the Electricity series including and excluding government electricity rebates.

June 2022, index = 100

  • a) Introduction of the WA $400 household electricity credit
  • b) Introduction of the ACT $50 rebate for concession households
  • c) Introduction of the QLD $175 Cost of Living rebate
  • d) Introduction of the TAS $119 Winter Bill Buster electricity credit
  • e) Introduction of the Energy Bill Relief Fund (EBRF) for concession households in NSW, SA, TAS, NT and ACT, and for all households in QLD and WA. Introduction of additional ACT $50 rebate for concession households.
  • f) Introduction of the Energy Bill Relief Fund for concession households in VIC
  • g) Introduction of the Energy Bill Relief Fund for newly eligible households in in NSW, SA, TAS, NT and ACT.
  • h) Introduction of the Energy Bill Relief Fund for newly eligible households in in VIC.
  • i) Introduction of the second instalment of the Energy Bill Relief Fund for all households in WA.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages

Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose 4.0% in the 12 months to December, down from a rise of 4.6% in November. The main contributors were Meals out and takeaway food (+5.7%), Food products n.e.c. (+6.8%) and Bread and cereal products (+7.7%). Both Fruit and vegetable (-2.2%) and Meat and seafood (-1.9%) prices fell in the 12 months to December.

Automotive fuel

Automotive fuel prices rose 5.3% in the 12 months to December, up from a rise of 2.3% in November. The rise in the annual movement in December is largely due to base effects with the large monthly fall of 8.1% in December 2022 no longer contributing to the annual movement.

In monthly terms, Automotive fuel prices fell 5.5% in December, following a fall of 0.5% in November. Automotive fuel prices continued to ease due to softening crude oil prices in recent months.

Holiday travel and accommodation

Holiday travel and accommodation prices fell 9.1% in the 12 months to December, following a fall of 0.3% in November. The fall in the annual movement in December is largely due to base effects with the large monthly price rise of 27.0% in December 2022 no longer contributing to the annual movement.

In monthly terms, Holiday travel and accommodation prices rose 15.8% in December, following a rise of 2.7% in November. Increased demand during the Christmas holiday period contributed to prices rises over December for both International holiday travel and accommodation and Domestic holiday travel and accommodation.

Data downloads

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Data explorer for the monthly CPI indicator.

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Detailed monthly data

Monthly Expenditure class data

About the monthly CPI indicator

What is the monthly CPI Indicator?

Introducing monthly indicators of underlying inflation

Articles

Measuring Rents in the CPI 

Using price indexes

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. 

Consistent with existing policy, the ABS does not comment on the use (or otherwise) of the price indexes we publish. However, it should be noted that the monthly CPI indicator may be routinely subject to revision, in contrast to the quarterly CPI which is only revised in exceptional circumstances.

Use of Price Indexes in Contracts 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

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) specific to the monthly CPI indicator can be found in the Information paper: Introducing a monthly CPI indicator for Australia FAQs 

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

Methodology

Scope

The monthly CPI indicator is a general measure of price change for goods and services purchased by Australian households.

Geography

Monthly data is published at the national level, derived as a weighted average of the eight capital cities.

Source

Prices are collected for a range of goods and services (the CPI basket) from a variety of retailers across the eight capital cities.

Collection method

Prices are collected in a range of frequencies including monthly, quarterly, and annually using: 

  • web-scraping
  • online and telephone collections from retailers
  • administrative data, including supermarket scanner data.

Concepts, sources and methods

Information about the data sources and methods used to compile the CPI is contained in the Consumer Price Index: Concepts, Sources and Methods.

History of changes

  • Partial update of CPI weights July 2023.
  • Monthly Gas series included June 2023.
  • Annual trimmed mean included April 2023.
  • Monthly Electricity included February 2023.
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