Selected Living Cost Indexes, Australia

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Living Cost Indexes (LCIs) measures the price change of goods and services and its effect on living expenses of selected household types

Reference period
June 2023
Released
2/08/2023

Key statistics

  • All five Living Cost Indexes (LCIs) rose between 0.8% to 1.5% in the June 2023 quarter.
  • Over the twelve months to the June 2023 quarter, all LCIs rose by between 6.3% and 9.6%.
  • Insurance and financial services, Food and non-alcoholic beverages, and Housing were the main contributors to the quarterly rises.
  • Employee households recorded the strongest quarterly and annual rises due to increases in Mortgage interest charges.

Partial update to the SLCI weights next quarter

The SLCI weights are typically updated each year in the December quarter. This is to ensure the weights used in the SLCI basket reflect contemporary household spending patterns. With the continued increase in Australians holidaying overseas, a partial update of the SLCI weights will be implemented in the September 2023 quarter. The partial update will see the weight for International holiday travel increase, with the weight for the other components in the basket adjusted to offset the increase in the weight of International holiday travel. The updated weights will be published as part of the July Monthly CPI indicator release on 30 August 2023. 

The comprehensive update to the SLCI weights usually done in December quarter each year will be implemented in March quarter 2024 instead. The weights for the quarterly SLCI will continue to be updated in March quarters in future years.

Quarterly living costs

All five LCIs rose in the June 2023 quarter

Insurance and financial services, Food and non-alcoholic beverages, and Housing were the main contributors to the rise in living costs across all household types this quarter.

  1. Mortgage interest charges is included in Insurance and financial services.
  2. Housing includes Rents, Utilities, and Other housing (Property rates and Maintenance and repair of the dwelling).

The Insurance and Financial services group recorded the strongest rise across all LCIs this quarter. This was due to increases in Mortgage interest charges and Insurance. Mortgage interest charges rose as banks passed on the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA’s) cash rate rises to home loan interest rates. Insurance premiums rose across house, house contents and motor vehicle insurance.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages rose across all LCIs. Higher prices for Meals out and takeaway foods contributed to the rise due to higher input costs. Fruit and vegetables also rose due to cooler weather which reduced supply of tomatoes and cucumbers.           

Housing was another main contributor for the household types where Rents make up a higher proportion of expenditure. Rental prices continued to rise this quarter reflecting strong demand amid low vacancy rates.

Employee LCI recorded the strongest rise across the five household types (+1.5%)

Employee households, whose primary source of income is wages and salaries, rose due to a rise in Mortgage interest charges. Mortgage interest charges make up a higher proportion of expenditure for Employee households. Mortgage interest charges rose by 9.8% in the June 2023 quarter, with banks passing on the RBA’s cash rate rises to home loan interest rates.

Self-funded retiree LCI recorded one of the smallest quarterly rises (+0.8%)

Self-funded retirees, whose principal source of income is superannuation or property income, recorded one of the smallest rises across the household types. The smaller rise for Self-funded retiree households is due to having the smallest proportion of expenditure for mortgage interest charges and rents, which drove the rise for the other household types. These households also have the highest proportion of expenditure for domestic holiday travel and accommodation, which fell due to discounting in airfares and accommodation prices falling.

Pensioner and Beneficiary LCI (PBLCI) rose 1.1%

The PBLCI measures living costs for Age pensioner and Other government transfer recipient households. These households source their principal income from government pensions.

Other government transfer recipient households rose 1.3%, the second largest quarterly rise across the household types. Rents make up a larger proportion of expenditure for Other government transfer recipient households than for the other household types. Rental prices continued to rise this quarter.

Age pensioner households recorded a smaller rise of 0.8%. Health makes up a larger proportion of expenditure for these households. The cost of pharmaceutical products fell due to an increase in the proportion of consumers who qualify for subsidies under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). The fall in Health costs offset some of the rises for these households.

Government pensions are indexed by the rise in the PBLCI when it is higher than the CPI over the six-month indexation period. Over the six months between the December 2022 quarter and the June 2023 quarter, the PBLCI rose 3.2% whilst the CPI rose 2.2%.

Annual living costs

Over the past twelve months all LCIs rose by between 6.3% and 9.6%

  1. The Pensioner and beneficiary household series commenced in 2008.
  2. The series for the remaining four household types commenced in 1999.

All household types recorded stronger annual rises compared to the CPI.

Employee households recorded the largest annual rise (+9.6%) on record. Mortgage interest changes makes up a higher proportion of expenditure for Employee households. Mortgage interest charges rose 91.6%, the largest annual rise on record, driven by banks passing on the RBA's multiple cash rate rises over the year.

The remaining four household types recorded rises between 6.3% and 7.3%. Housing, Food and non-alcoholic beverages, and Insurance and financial services were the main contributors across these household types.

Self-funded retirees recorded the smallest annual rise (+6.3%), due to having the lowest proportion of expenditure for Mortgage interest charges in Insurance and financial services.

Main annual contributors to cost of living changes for each household type, ordered by largest contributors
Pensioner and beneficiary (PBLCI)Housing(a) (+8.3%)
Insurance and financial services(b) (+25.7%)
Food and non-alcoholic beverages (+7.6%)
Recreation and culture (+6.9%)
EmployeeInsurance and financial services(b) (+51.8%)
Food and non-alcoholic beverages (+7.5%)
Housing(a) (+7.8%)
Recreation and culture (+6.8%)
Age pensionerHousing(a) (+8.4%)
Food and non-alcoholic beverages (+7.4%)
Insurance and financial services(b) (+17.4%)
Recreation and culture (+7.7%)
Other government transfer recipientHousing(a) (+8.2%)
Insurance and financial services(b) (+35.5%)
Food and non-alcoholic beverages (+7.8%)
Alcohol and Tobacco (+4.8%)
Self-funded retireeRecreation and culture (+8.1%)
Food and non-alcoholic beverages (+7.2%)
Housing(a) (+7.9%)
Insurance and financial services(b) (+17.0%) 
  1. Housing includes Rents, Utilities, and Other housing (Property rates and Maintenance and repair of the dwelling).
  2. Mortgage interest charges is included in Insurance and financial services.

Contributors to quarterly change

Percentage change, Commodity group - March Quarter 2023 to June quarter 2023
Weighted average of eight capital citiesPensioner and beneficiary LCIEmployee LCI  Age pensioner LCIOther government transfer recipient LCISelf-funded retiree LCIConsumer Price Index (CPI)
Food and non-alcoholic beverages1.61.61.51.71.41.6
Alcohol and tobacco1.11.01.01.10.91.0
Clothing and footwear0.90.60.31.20.20.6
Housing (a)0.91.00.41.20.10.8
Furnishings, household equipment and services1.92.02.01.82.22.1
Health-0.8-0.1-0.8-0.9-0.3-0.1
Transport-0.2-0.1-0.2-0.1-0.2-0.1
Communication-0.5-0.5-0.3-0.5-0.4-0.4
Recreation and culture-0.2-0.20.00.0-0.4-0.2
Education-0.3-0.3-0.1-0.3-0.1-0.2
Insurance and financial services (b)5.97.65.36.55.23.0
All groups1.11.50.81.30.80.8
  1. New dwelling purchase by owner-occupiers are included in the CPI but excluded from the Selected Living Cost Indexes.
  2. The Selected Living Cost Indexes includes interest charges and general insurance. Interest charges are excluded from the CPI and general insurance is calculated on a different basis.

For further analysis on commodity group contributors, please see the latest release of the Consumer Price Index.

Data downloads

Table 1. All groups, index numbers and percentage changes, by household type

Table 2. Commodity groups, index numbers, percentage changes and points contributions, by household type

Table 3. Gross insurance, mortgage interest and consumer credit, index numbers and percentage changes, by household type

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.

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 6467.0.

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