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 2024
Released
7/08/2024

Key statistics

  • All five Living Cost Indexes (LCIs) rose between 1.2% and 1.4% in the June 2024 quarter.
  • Over the twelve months to the June 2024 quarter, the LCIs rose between 3.7% and 6.2%.
  • Insurance and financial services and Food and non-alcoholic beverages were the main contributors to the quarterly rises across all LCIs. Housing was also a main contributor for all LCIs apart from Self-funded retiree households.
  • Other government transfer recipients recorded the strongest quarterly rise due to increases in Rents and Electricity.
  • Employee households recorded the strongest annual rises due to increases in Mortgage interest charges. 

Overview

Quarterly living costs

All five LCIs rose in the June 2024 quarter 

Insurance and financial services and Food and non-alcoholic beverages were the main contributors across all household types. Housing was also a main contributor for all LCIs apart from Self-funded retiree households.

  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).

Insurance and financial services rose due to increases in Insurance and Mortgage interest charges. Insurance prices rose due to higher premiums for motor vehicle, house and home contents insurance reflecting higher reinsurance, natural disaster and claims costs. 

Mortgage interest charges rose due to the the continued rollover of expired fixed rate to higher variable rate mortgages, as well as higher mortgage debt levels. 

Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose across all household types, driven by rises in Fruit and vegetables, due to unfavourable growing conditions which drove higher prices for grapes, strawberries, blueberries, tomatoes and capsicums. 

Rents and Electricity prices drove the rise in Housing for most household types. Rents continued to increase reflecting tight rental markets and low vacancy rates. Out-of-pocket costs for electricity rose with Energy Bill Relief Fund rebates gradually being used up by eligible households.

Living costs for households whose main source of income is government payments

Other government transfer recipient (+1.4%) and Age pensioner (+1.2%) households recorded rises in living costs driven by a rise in Housing. 

This is due to the second instalment of the Energy Bill Relief Fund (EBRF) rebates being used up by concession households in Perth and Melbourne, resulting in higher out of pocket expenses for electricity for these households. This was partially offset by the introduction of the second instalment of the EBRF rebate in Hobart from April 2024. 

Other government transfer recipient households were also impacted by higher rental prices, due to rents making up a larger proportion of expenditure for these households compared to the other household types. 

The Pensioner and Beneficiary LCI (PBLCI) recorded a 1.3% rise, the same as the 1.3% rise in the March 2024 quarter. The PBLCI measures living costs for Age pensioner and Other government transfer recipient households. These households source their principal income from government payments.

Living cost increases for Employee households eased from the March 2024 quarter

Living costs for Employee households, whose primary source of income is wages and salaries, rose 1.3% over the June 2024 quarter, down from a 1.7% rise in the previous quarter. 

Mortgage interest charges make up a higher proportion of expenditure for Employee households. Mortgage interest charges rose 2.6% due to the continued roll-over of expired fixed-rate to higher variable rate home loans, as well as higher mortgage debt levels. This follows a 7.0% rise in the previous quarter, which was driven by the residual impacts from banks passing on the Reserve Bank of Australia’s cash rate rise in November 2023 to variable rate home loans, in addition to the rollover of expired fixed rate loans. 

Living costs for Self-funded retirees increased more than the March 2024 quarter 

Self-funded retiree households, whose primary source of income is superannuation or property income, rose 1.2% this quarter, up from a 0.7% rise in the March 2024 quarter. This was due to higher International holiday travel and accommodation prices this quarter due to an increase in demand for holiday travel to Europe. Holiday travel and accommodation makes up a higher proportion of expenditure for Self-funded retiree households than it does for other types of households.

Self-funded retiree households also have the largest proportion of expenditure for Medical, dental and hospital services. Medical, dental and hospital services recorded a rise in the June 2024 quarter reflecting an increase in health insurance premiums on 1 April.

Annual living costs

Higher annual living cost increases across all household types compared to the March 2024 quarter, except for Employee households

Over the past twelve months, the five LCIs rose between 3.7% and 6.2%, with higher increases in annual living costs compared to the March 2024 quarter for all household types, except Employee households. 

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

Employee households continued to record the largest annual rise in living costs of all household types, rising 6.2% over the year. However, this is down from 6.5% in the previous quarter, and down from a peak of 9.6% in the June 2023 quarter. 

Mortgage interest charges rose 26.5% over the year, continuing the downward trend in mortgage interest charges inflation from a peak of 91.6% in the June 2023 quarter. The Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) decision to keep the cash rate on hold since November 2023 was the main contributor to the easing in annual growth. However, Mortgage interest charges remained elevated, compared to recent years, as some fixed rate loans continued to rollover into higher variable rate loans. 

Higher insurance premiums and mortgage interest charges drove rises across the remaining household types

The remaining four household types recorded annual rises in living costs between 3.7% and 4.6%. Insurance and financial services was the main contributor across the household types. 

Higher premiums for motor vehicle, house and home contents insurance over the past twelve months have resulted in strong annual growth in Insurance across all household types. Strong rises in Mortgage interest charges over the past twelve months also contributed to the annual rise in living costs across most household types. 

Main annual contributors to cost of living changes for each household type

Insurance and financial services and Food and non-alcoholic beverages were the main contributors to the rises in annual living costs across most household types.

Household typeMain annual contributors
Pensioner and beneficiary (PBLCI)Insurance and financial services (a) (+17.8%)
Alcohol and tobacco (+8.7%)
Food and non-alcoholic beverages (+3.0%)
Transport (+4.8%)
EmployeeInsurance and financial services (a) (+22.1%)
Housing (b) (+7.2%)
Food and non-alcoholic beverages (+3.4%)
Transport (+4.5%)
Age pensionerInsurance and financial services (a) (+15.5%)
Food and non-alcoholic beverages (+3.0%)
Health (+4.5%)
Transport (+4.8%)
Other government transfer recipientInsurance and financial services (a) (+20.1%)
Alcohol and tobacco (+9.6%)
Housing (b) (+2.9%)
Food and non-alcoholic beverages (+2.9%)
Self-funded retireeInsurance and financial services (a) (+15.5%)
Health (+5.4%)
Housing (b) (+5.3%)
Transport (+4.5%)
  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).

Contributors to quarterly change

Quarterly percentage change, Commodity group - March quarter 2024 to June quarter 2024
Weighted average of eight capital citiesPensioner and beneficiary LCI (%)Employee LCI (%)  Age pensioner LCI (%)Other government transfer recipient LCI (%)Self-funded retiree LCI (%)Consumer Price Index (CPI) (%)
Food and non-alcoholic beverages1.31.21.31.11.31.2
Alcohol and tobacco1.91.41.52.11.31.5
Clothing and footwear2.93.12.83.02.93.1
Housing (a)2.21.32.02.30.41.1
Furnishings, household equipment and services0.80.90.70.80.80.8
Health-0.21.50.3-1.01.61.5
Transport1.00.81.01.00.80.9
Communication-0.8-0.8-0.7-0.6-0.7-0.8
Recreation and culture0.20.40.60.10.90.5
Education0.20.20.00.20.10.2
Insurance and financial services (b)2.92.73.12.83.01.2
All groups1.31.31.21.41.21.0
  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

Time Series Spreadsheets

Data files

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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