INFLATION GLOSSARY

Consumer Price Index (CPI)

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) provides a general measure of change in prices of consumer goods and services purchased by Australian households. It measures quarterly changes in the price of a 'basket' of goods and services which account for a high proportion of expenditure by the CPI population group (i.e. capital city households). This 'basket' covers a wide range of goods and services, including items such as food, clothing, housing, health, transport, education and recreation to name a few. The CPI used for the purposes of this publication is the weighted average of eight capital cities.

Chain Price Index

An annually-reweighted Laspeyres price index. This can be thought of as a series of indexes measuring price change from a base year to quarters in the following year using current price values in the base year as weights, linked together to form a continuous time series.

Domestic Final Demand (DFD)

Domestic Final Demand is the aggregate of Final Consumption Expenditure and Gross Fixed Capital Formation.

Final Consumption Expenditure

Final Consumption Expenditure consists of expenditure on consumption goods and services, including imputed expenditure, incurred by general government, resident households and non-profit institutions serving households.

Gross Fixed Capital Formation

Gross Fixed Capital Formation is the value of producers' acquisitions, less disposals, of fixed assets during the period. Fixed assets are tangible or intangible assets produced as outputs from processes of production that are themselves used repeatedly in other processes of production for more than one year.

Inflation

A term commonly used to refer to changes in price levels. A rise in prices is called inflation, while a fall is called deflation.

The New Tax System (TNTS)

Package of changes to the taxation and social welfare system that commenced on 1 July 2000, and included the introduction of a goods and services tax (GST) and changes to business taxation.