Monthly Consumer Price Index Indicator

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

Reference period
March 2024
Released
24/04/2024

Key statistics

  • The monthly CPI indicator rose 3.5% in the 12 months to March.
  • The most significant price rises were Housing (+5.2%), Food and non-alcoholic beverages (+3.5%), Transport (+4.5%) and Alcohol and tobacco (+6.1%).

What's new this month

Design of a complete monthly CPI

At the end of 2023, the ABS undertook a public consultation on the proposed complete monthly CPI publication design. The public consultation sought formal submissions on this proposed design covering key areas such as release timing, data requirements, publication specifics, and methodologies. A summary of submissions and the complete monthly CPI design are available on the ‘We asked, You said, We did’ page of the Consultation Hub.

Private rent inflation: capital cities vs regions

The ABS has published an article called Private rent inflation: capital cities vs regions. This article updates some of the information about the private Australian rental market previously published in April 2023 in the New insights into the rental market information paper. 

Main features

Weighted average of eight capital cities, annual movement
 Jan 23 to Jan 24 % changeFeb 23 to Feb 24 % changeMar 23 to Mar 24 % change
All groups monthly CPI3.43.43.5
Food and non-alcoholic beverages4.43.63.5
 Bread and cereal products7.47.07.3
 Meat and seafood-2.0-2.0-0.9
 Dairy and related products5.04.22.9
 Fruit and vegetables1.6-0.5-1.2
 Food products n.e.c.6.94.94.0
 Non-alcoholic beverages5.74.95.5
Alcohol and tobacco6.76.16.1
 Alcohol4.53.62.7
 Tobacco10.710.712.4
Clothing and footwear0.40.80.3
 Garments1.92.31.7
Housing4.64.65.2
 Rents7.47.67.7
 New dwelling purchases by owner-occupiers4.84.95.1
 Electricity0.80.35.2
 Gas and other household fuels-1.4-2.4-2.9
Furnishings, household equipment and services0.3-0.30.1
Health3.93.94.1
Transport3.03.44.5
 Automotive fuel3.14.18.1
Communications2.01.71.6
Recreation and culture-1.70.4-0.6
 Holiday travel and accommodation-7.1-1.3-3.9
Education4.75.15.2
Insurance and financial services8.28.48.2
CPI analytical series   
 Seasonally adjusted3.63.73.8
 CPI excluding volatile items** and holiday travel4.13.94.1
 Annual Trimmed mean3.83.94.0

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

Monthly overview

The monthly CPI indicator rose 3.5% in the 12 months to March, following a 3.4% rise in the 12 months to February.

The annual movement for the monthly CPI indicator excluding volatile items and holiday travel was 4.1% in March, up from the rise of 3.9% in February. This series excludes Fruit and vegetables, Automotive fuel, and Holiday travel and accommodation.

Annual trimmed mean inflation was 4.0% in March, up slightly from 3.9% in February.

*Volatile items are Fruit and vegetables and Automotive fuel

New dwellings and Rents

New dwelling prices rose 5.1% in the 12 months to March. The increase in New dwelling prices reflects builders continuing to pass on higher costs for labour and materials. The rate of price growth has remained around 5% annually over recent periods, down from the highs of over 20% recorded during 2022.

Rental prices increased 7.7% in the 12 months to March, which continues to reflect strong demand for rental properties and tight rental markets.

In monthly terms, rental prices rose 0.6% in March. Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) increased from 20 March 2024 due to the usual biannual indexation. An increase in CRA reduces the out-of-pocket rental cost for CRA recipients. The monthly result includes a partial impact of this CRA change. Excluding the CRA increase, Rents would have risen by 0.7% over the month. The remaining impact of the CRA increase will be reflected in April.

Electricity and Gas

Electricity prices rose 5.2% in the 12 months to March, up from a rise of 0.3% to February. The rise was driven by the unwinding of Energy Bill Relief Fund rebates which have moderated the increase in electricity bills for households following annual price reviews in July 2023. 

Gas prices fell 2.9% in the 12 months to March, the third consecutive month of annual deflation and down from the peak of 27.2% to May 2023. 

In monthly terms, Electricity prices rose 4.8%. The rise was driven by households in Perth using up the second instalment of the Energy Bill Relief Fund rebates.

Energy Bill Relief Fund rebates introduced from July 2023 have moderated the increase in electricity bills for households across Australia.

Excluding the Energy Bill Relief Fund rebates, Electricity prices would have increased 14.8% in the 12 months to March 2024.

The following graph shows the Electricity series including and excluding government electricity rebates.

March 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 rebates for concession household in VIC.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages

Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose 3.5% in the 12 months to March, down slightly from a rise of 3.6% to February. The main contributors were Meals out and takeaway foods (+5.4%), Bread and cereal products (+7.3%) and Food products n.e.c. (+4.0%). Meat and seafood (-0.9%) and Fruit and vegetable (-1.2%) prices fell compared to 12 months ago.

Automotive fuel

Automotive fuel prices rose 8.1% in the 12 months to March, up from a rise of 4.1% to February. The rise was driven by higher wholesale fuel prices.

In monthly terms, Automotive fuel prices rose 1.5% in March, following a rise of 5.1% in February. 

Holiday travel and accommodation

Holiday travel and accommodation prices fell 3.9% in the 12 months to March, following a fall of 1.3% to February. 

In monthly terms, Holiday travel and accommodation prices fell 1.2% in March, as prices for airfares and accommodation continued to ease due to lower demand following the end of the school holiday period. Increased demand for domestic accommodation for the Easter break partially offset the fall.

Data downloads

Time Series Spreadsheets

Data files

Create your own tables and visualisations with Data Explorer

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Data explorer for the monthly CPI indicator.

For information on Data Explorer and how it works, see the Data Explorer user guide.

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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