Wages

Broad opportunities for employment and well-paid, secure jobs

Metric

Growth in the wage price index adjusted for inflation, as measured by the consumer price index

Why this matters

Increases in real wages allow households to increase the volume or quality of consumption, improving their wellbeing outcomes.

Declining real wage performance negatively impacts the welfare of households as it means pay rises are not keeping up with the price of goods and services.

Progress

In the year to the June 2024 quarter:

the Consumer Price Index rose by 3.8%
the Wage Price Index rose by 4.1%
real wage growth was 0.3%.

Real wage growth
	WPI annual growth (%)	CPI annual growth (%)	Annual real wage growth (%)
Jun-04	3.6	2.5	1.1
Sep-04	3.6	2.3	1.3
Dec-04	3.7	2.5	1.2
Mar-05	3.9	2.4	1.5
Jun-05	4.1	2.5	1.6
Sep-05	4.2	3.1	1.1
Dec-05	4.1	2.8	1.3
Mar-06	4.1	2.9	1.2
Jun-06	4.0	4.0	0
Sep-06	3.9	4.0	-0.1
Dec-06	4.0	3.3	0.7
Mar-07	4.0	2.5	1.5
Jun-07	4.1	2.1	2.0
Sep-07	4.3	1.8	2.5
Dec-07	4.1	2.9	1.2
Mar-08	4.0	4.3	-0.3
Jun-08	4.2	4.4	-0.2
Sep-08	4.3	5.0	-0.7
Dec-08	4.3	3.7	0.6
Mar-09	4.2	2.4	1.8
Jun-09	3.8	1.4	2.4
Sep-09	3.0	1.2	1.8
Dec-09	2.9	2.1	0.8
Mar-10	3.0	2.9	0.1
Jun-10	3.0	3.1	-0.1
Sep-10	3.6	2.9	0.7
Dec-10	3.9	2.8	1.1
Mar-11	3.9	3.3	0.6
Jun-11	3.8	3.5	0.3
Sep-11	3.6	3.4	0.2
Dec-11	3.6	3.0	0.6
Mar-12	3.6	1.6	2.0
Jun-12	3.8	1.2	2.6
Sep-12	3.8	2.0	1.8
Dec-12	3.4	2.2	1.2
Mar-13	3.1	2.5	0.6
Jun-13	2.8	2.4	0.4
Sep-13	2.6	2.2	0.4
Dec-13	2.6	2.7	-0.1
Mar-14	2.7	2.9	-0.2
Jun-14	2.6	3.0	-0.4
Sep-14	2.6	2.3	0.3
Dec-14	2.5	1.7	0.8
Mar-15	2.3	1.3	1.0
Jun-15	2.3	1.5	0.8
Sep-15	2.3	1.5	0.8
Dec-15	2.2	1.7	0.5
Mar-16	2.1	1.3	0.8
Jun-16	2.1	1.0	1.1
Sep-16	1.9	1.3	0.6
Dec-16	1.9	1.5	0.4
Mar-17	1.9	2.1	-0.2
Jun-17	1.9	1.9	0
Sep-17	2.0	1.8	0.2
Dec-17	2.1	1.9	0.2
Mar-18	2.0	1.9	0.1
Jun-18	2.1	2.1	0
Sep-18	2.3	1.9	0.4
Dec-18	2.3	1.8	0.5
Mar-19	2.3	1.3	1.0
Jun-19	2.3	1.6	0.7
Sep-19	2.2	1.7	0.5
Dec-19	2.2	1.8	0.4
Mar-20	2.2	2.2	0
Jun-20	1.8	-0.3	2.1
Sep-20	1.4	0.7	0.7
Dec-20	1.3	0.9	0.4
Mar-21	1.5	1.1	0.4
Jun-21	1.8	3.8	-2.0
Sep-21	2.2	3.0	-0.8
Dec-21	2.3	3.5	-1.2
Mar-22	2.4	5.1	-2.7
Jun-22	2.7	6.1	-3.4
Sep-22	3.2	7.3	-4.1
Dec-22	3.4	7.8	-4.4
Mar-23	3.7	7.0	-3.3
Jun-23	3.6	6.0	-2.4
Sep-23	4.0	5.4	-1.4
Dec-23	4.2	4.1	0.1
Mar-24	4.1	3.6	0.5
Jun-24	4.1	3.8	0.3

Real wage growth

["","WPI annual growth","CPI annual growth","Annual real wage growth"]

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Sources:

Consumer Price Index, Australia, June Quarter 2024 | Australian Bureau of Statistics (abs.gov.au), Tables 1 and 2, Percentage change from corresponding quarter of previous year, All groups, original
Wage Price Index, Australia, June 2024 | Australian Bureau of Statistics (abs.gov.au), Table 1, Percentage change from corresponding quarter of previous year, Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses, Public and private, seasonally adjusted

Real wages are calculated by subtracting the Consumer Price Index (percentage change from the corresponding quarter of previous year), from the same period's Wage Price Index (percentage change from corresponding quarter of previous year, seasonally adjusted).