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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
January 2024
Released
28/02/2024

Key statistics

  • The monthly CPI indicator rose 3.4% in the 12 months to January.
  • The most significant price rises were Housing (+4.6%), Food and non-alcoholic beverages (+4.4%), Alcohol and tobacco (+6.7%) and Insurance and financial services (+8.2%).

What's new this month

Annual weight update of the CPI

A comprehensive update to the weights for the monthly CPI indicator has been implemented in January 2024 to ensure the weights used in the CPI basket reflect contemporary household spending patterns. The updated 2024 CPI weighting patterns can be found in Annual weight update of the CPI and Living Cost Indexes

For the quarterly CPI, the updated weights will be implemented in the March 2024 quarter. 

Main features

Weighted average of eight capital cities, annual movement
 Nov 22 to Nov 23 % changeDec 22 to Dec 23 % changeJan 23 to Jan 24 % change
All groups monthly CPI4.33.43.4
Food and non-alcoholic beverages4.64.04.4
 Bread and cereal products8.37.77.4
 Meat and seafood0.2-1.9-2.0
 Dairy and related products6.15.25.0
 Fruit and vegetables0.7-2.21.6
 Food products n.e.c.6.66.86.9
 Non-alcoholic beverages5.47.15.7
Alcohol and tobacco6.46.86.7
 Alcohol4.24.64.5
 Tobacco10.510.810.7
Clothing and footwear-0.9-0.80.4
 Garments-0.4-0.41.9
Housing6.65.24.6
 Rents7.17.47.4
 New dwelling purchases by owner-occupiers5.55.14.8
 Electricity10.70.40.8
 Gas and other household fuels12.98.5-1.4
Furnishings, household equipment and services-0.3-0.30.3
Health5.24.73.9
Transport3.63.63.0
 Automotive fuel2.35.33.1
Communications2.42.02.0
Recreation and culture1.2-2.4-1.7
 Holiday travel and accommodation-0.3-9.1-7.1
Education4.84.74.7
Insurance and financial services8.88.28.2
CPI analytical series   
 Seasonally adjusted4.53.43.6
 CPI excluding volatile items** and holiday travel4.84.24.1
 Annual Trimmed mean4.64.03.8

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

Monthly Overview

The monthly CPI indicator rose 3.4% in the 12 months to January, following a 3.4% rise in the 12 months to December.

The annual movement for the monthly CPI indicator excluding volatile items and holiday travel was 4.1% in January, down from the rise of 4.2% in December. This series excludes Fruit and vegetables, Automotive fuel, and Holiday travel and accommodation.

Annual trimmed mean inflation was 3.8% in January, down from the rise of 4.0% in December.

*Volatile items are Fruit and vegetables and Automotive fuel

New dwellings and Rents

New dwelling prices rose 4.8% in the 12 months to January, down from 5.1% in December. The rate of price growth continues to slow and remains low compared to levels recorded over 2022, reflecting improvements in the supply of materials and subdued new demand.

Rental prices increased 7.4% in the 12 months to January, maintaining the same annual growth from December. The rise in Rental prices continues to reflect strong demand for rental properties and tight rental markets.
 

Electricity and Gas

Electricity prices rose 0.8% in the 12 months to January 2024, up from a rise of 0.4% in December. 

Gas prices fell 1.4% in the 12 months to January 2024, down from a rise of 8.5% in December. The annual movement was impacted by base effects, with the large monthly price rise of 8.1% in January 2023 no longer contributing to the January 2024 annual movement.

The Electricity and Gas and other household fuels series were 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.

Excluding the Energy Bill Relief Fund rebates, Electricity prices would have increased 15.3% in the 12 months to January 2024.

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

January 2023, index = 100

  • a) 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.
  • b) Introduction of the Energy Bill Relief Fund for concession households in VIC.
  • c) Introduction of the Energy Bill Relief Fund for newly eligible households in NSW, SA, TAS, NT and ACT.
  • d) Introduction of the Energy Bill Relief Fund for newly eligible households in VIC.
  • e) 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 4.4% in the 12 months to January, up from a rise of 4.0% in December. The main contributors were Meals out and takeaway foods (+5.7%), Food products n.e.c. (+6.9%) and Bread and cereal products (+7.4%). Meat and seafood (-2.0%) prices fell in the 12 months to January.

Automotive fuel

Automotive fuel prices rose 3.1% in the 12 months to January, down from a rise of 5.3% in December. Automotive fuel prices have recorded four consecutive monthly falls as global oil prices have eased.  

In monthly terms, Automotive fuel prices fell 0.9% in January, following a fall of 5.5% in December.

Holiday travel and accommodation

Holiday travel and accommodation prices fell 7.1% in the 12 months to January, following a fall of 9.1% in December. Airfare prices are coming off record high levels in late 2022, following a surge in demand in response to the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions. 

In monthly terms, Holiday travel and accommodation prices fell 5.2% in January, following a rise of 15.8% in December. The fall is due to airfare and holiday accommodation prices easing following higher demand during the peak travel period in December. 

Data downloads

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Data explorer for the monthly CPI indicator.

For information on Data Explorer and how it works, see the Data Explorer user guide.

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

  • Annual update of CPI weights January 2024. 
  • Partial update of CPI weights July 2023.
  • Monthly Gas series included June 2023.
  • Annual trimmed mean included April 2023.
  • Monthly Electricity included February 2023.
View full methodology
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