Monthly Consumer Price Index Indicator

Latest release

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

Reference period
July 2024
Released
28/08/2024
  • Next Release 25/09/2024
    Monthly Consumer Price Index Indicator, August 2024
  • Next Release 30/10/2024
    Monthly Consumer Price Index Indicator, September 2024
  • Next Release 27/11/2024
    Monthly Consumer Price Index Indicator, October 2024
  • View all releases

Key statistics

  • The monthly CPI indicator rose 3.5% in the 12 months to July.
  • The most significant price rises were Housing (+4.0%), Food and non-alcoholic beverages (+3.8%), Alcohol and tobacco (+7.2%) and Transport (+3.4%).

What’s new this month

The extended and expanded Commonwealth Energy Bill Relief Fund rebate, and the introduction of State government rebates, have begun to take affect from July 2024. These rebates have the effect of reducing electricity costs for households. More details on the impact and timing of these rebates are provided below. 

The Urban transport expenditure class (EC) has been updated to reflect price changes on a monthly basis as of July 2024. Prior to this month, prices were updated once per quarter. The monthly data will be used to compile the Urban transport EC as the average of the three months in the quarterly CPI from September quarter 2024. 

Main features

Weighted average of eight capital cities, annual movement
 May 23 to May 24 % changeJun 23 to Jun 24 % changeJul 23 to Jul 24 % change
All groups monthly CPI4.03.83.5
Food and non-alcoholic beverages3.33.33.8
 Bread and cereal products3.43.44.4
 Meat and seafood-0.6-0.20.2
 Dairy and related products2.41.6-0.2
 Fruit and vegetables4.43.67.5
 Food products n.e.c.4.03.74.3
 Non-alcoholic beverages3.86.14.9
Alcohol and tobacco6.76.97.2
 Alcohol3.43.43.7
 Tobacco13.413.813.9
Clothing and footwear2.83.61.9
 Garments2.94.43.1
Housing5.25.54.0
 Rents7.47.16.9
 New dwelling purchases by owner-occupiers4.95.45.0
 Electricity6.57.5-5.1
 Gas and other household fuels-3.9-0.62.7
Furnishings, household equipment and services-1.1-1.1-0.9
Health6.15.35.3
Transport4.94.23.4
 Automotive fuel9.36.64.0
Communications0.71.01.9
Recreation and culture2.00.61.1
 Holiday travel and accommodation2.9-0.70.2
Education5.25.65.6
Insurance and financial services7.86.46.4
CPI analytical series   
 Seasonally adjusted4.13.83.6
 CPI excluding volatile items** and holiday travel4.04.03.7
 Annual Trimmed mean4.44.13.8

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

Monthly overview

The monthly CPI indicator rose 3.5% in the 12 months to July, down from a 3.8% rise in the 12 months to June.

The annual movement for the monthly CPI indicator excluding volatile items and holiday travel was 3.7% in July, down from a 4.0% rise in June. This series excludes Automotive fuel, Fruit and vegetables and Holiday travel and accommodation.

An alternative measure of underlying inflation is the trimmed mean, which reduces the impact of irregular or temporary price changes in the CPI. The annual trimmed mean movement was 3.8% in July, down from 4.1% in June.

*Volatile items are Fruit and vegetables and Automotive fuel

New dwellings and Rents

The annual rise in New dwelling prices was 5.0%, down from 5.4% in June, maintaining the trend of annual price growth of around 5% since August 2023. This reflects builders passing on higher costs for labour, while prices for building materials remain high.  

Rental prices increased 6.9% in the 12 months to July, down from the 7.1% increase in June. Rental price growth remains high due to a tight rental market reflected by low vacancy rates in most capital cities. 

Electricity

Electricity prices fell 5.1% in the 12 months to July, down from a 7.5% rise in June. 

The introduction of 2024-25 Commonwealth Energy Bill Relief Fund (EBRF) rebates and State government rebates in Western Australia, Queensland and Tasmania from July drove the fall. 

Households in Queensland and Western Australia received the first instalment of Commonwealth EBRF rebate from July 2024. Households in the remaining capital cities will receive their first rebate instalment from August 2024. 

In addition to the Commonwealth rebates, electricity bills in Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania reduced further in July 2024 due to the introduction of $1,000 Cost of Living rebate in Queensland, the first instalment of $400 energy rebate in Western Australia and the $250 Renewable Energy Dividend payment in Tasmania. 

Altogether, these rebates led to a 6.4% fall in the month of July. Excluding the rebates, Electricity prices would have risen 0.9% in July.

 
Commonwealth $300 rebate
WA $400 state rebateQLD $1,000 state rebateTAS $250 state rebate (Renewable Energy Dividend)
Rebate methodApplied directly to electricity bills as four equal $75 quarterly instalments in the 2024-25 FY (a)Applied directly to electricity bills as two equal $200 instalments from July and December 2024Applied directly to electricity bills as a one-off $1,000 rebate. Where the rebate amount exceeds the average bill size, the residual amount is treated as a credit and applied to the next quarterly bill.Applied directly to electricity bills as a one-off $250 rebate
TimingFrom July 2024 for WA and QLD. For all remaining States and Territories, from August 2024. (b) and (c)From July 2024 (c)From July 2024From July 2024

(a) This applies to all States and Territories, except WA, where rebates will be applied directly to electricity bills as two equal $150 instalments from July 2024 and December 2024.

(b) For States and Territories receiving rebates from August, those households whose billing cycle is in July 2024 will receive two instalments in October 2024.

(c) In Western Australia, the first instalment of both Energy Bill Relief Fund 2024-25 and $400 Electricity Credit will be paid from 20 July 2024. The remaining proportion of households whose billing cycle is in July 2024 will receive their first instalment in October 2024.

The following graph shows the Electricity series including and excluding government electricity rebates from when the EBRF rebates were first introduced in July 2023. In July 2024 the EBRF rebates were extended and expanded to all households. This month also saw the introduction of State government rebates in Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania. These rebates have had the effect of reducing electricity costs for households. Excluding these rebates, electricity costs for households would have increased 16.5% since June 2023.

June 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.
  • f) Introduction of the second instalment of Energy Bill Relief Fund for concession household in VIC.
  • g) Introduction of the second instalment of the Energy Bill Relief Fund for concession and newly eligible households in TAS. 
  • h) Introduction of the first instalment of 2024-25 Commonwealth rebates for all households in QLD and WA, and State rebates in QLD, WA and TAS.

Gas and other household fuels

Gas prices rose 2.7% in the twelve months to July, up from a fall of 0.6% in the twelve months to June. The rise is due to annual price reviews in July 2024, reflecting higher network and wholesale gas prices.

In monthly terms, Gas prices rose 5.7% in July, due to annual price reviews, which typically apply from 1 July.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages

Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose 3.8% in the 12 months to July, up from a rise of 3.3% in June. The main drivers were Fruit and vegetables (+7.5%) and Food products n.e.c. (+4.3%). Fruit and vegetables recorded the largest annual rise since December 2022 due to higher prices for strawberries, grapes, broccoli and cucumbers.

Dairy and related products recorded a partially offsetting fall of 0.2%, due to price falls for cheese over the past 12 months. 

 

Automotive fuel

Automotive fuel prices rose 4.0% in the 12 months to July, down from the increase of 6.6% for the year to June. In monthly terms, Automotive fuel prices fell 2.6% in July.

Holiday travel and accommodation

Holiday travel and accommodation prices rose 0.2% in the 12 months to July, following a fall of 0.7% in the 12 months to June. 

In monthly terms, Holiday travel and accommodation prices fell 2.4% in July. The main contributor to the fall was International holiday travel (-4.8%), with prices easing following high demand for holiday travel to Europe in June. 

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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

  • 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.
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