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

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Reference period
March 2021
Released
5/05/2021
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Key statistics

Weighted average of eight capital cities, All groupsDec Qtr 2020 to
Mar Qtr 2021
% change		Mar Qtr 2020 to
Mar Qtr 2021
% change
Selected Living Cost Indexes (LCIs) - Household type:  
 Pensioner and Beneficiary LCI (PBLCI)

0.7

0.6

 Employee LCI

0.5

0.0

 Age Pensioner LCI

0.9

0.5
 Other Government Transfer Recipient LCI

0.6

0.7
 Self-funded Retiree LCI 0.71.3
Consumer Price Index (CPI)0.61.1

In the March 2021 quarter, all five living cost indexes rose:

  • Transport was the main contributor for three out of the five population sub-groups. Price rises in automotive fuel are due to a recovery in oil consumption resulting in higher world oil prices.
  • Health also contributed to the rise, increasing across all population sub-groups. The re-setting of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and Medicare safety net on 1 January increased the cost of prescription pharmaceutical products and medical and hospital services.

Main contributors to change

Percentage change, Commodity group -December Quarter 2020 to March Quarter 2021
Weighted average of eight capital citiesPensioner and beneficiary LCIEmployee LCIAge pensioner LCIOther government transfer recipient LCISelf-funded retiree LCIConsumer Price Index (CPI)
       
Food and non-alcoholic beverages0.40.40.40.30.40.4
Alcohol and tobacco0.00.40.30.00.50.3
Clothing and footwear-0.30.30.0-0.50.30.5
Housing (a)-0.70.3-0.8-0.60.20.1
Furnishings, household equipment and services-0.4-0.2-0.4-0.3-0.5-0.2
Health6.11.65.67.62.52.0
Transport4.13.33.94.23.23.2
Communication0.40.50.40.40.50.5
Recreation and culture0.0-0.20.00.1-0.2-0.2
Education1.00.8-1.11.11.20.4
Insurance and financial services (b)-0.6-1.4-0.4-0.8-0.60.1
All groups0.70.50.90.60.70.6

(a) New dwelling purchase by owner-occupiers are included in the CPI but excluded from the Selected Living Cost Indexes.
(b) 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.

Transport

Health

Food and non-alcoholic beverages

Housing

Insurance and financial services

Population sub-groups

At the All groups level, differences across the population sub-groups quarterly movements are largely explained by the weight of automotive fuel, pharmaceutical products, electricity and mortgage interest charges.

Pensioner and beneficiary households (+0.7%)

Employee households (+0.5%)

Age pensioner households (+0.9%)

Other government transfer recipient households (+0.6%)

Self–funded retiree households (+0.7%)

Data downloads

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

Data files
Download xls [82.5 KB]

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

Data files
Download xls [405.5 KB]

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

Data files
Download xls [131 KB]

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.

Methodology

Selected Living Cost Indexes, Australia methodology, March 2021