CAPITAL CITIES COMPARISON


ALL GROUPS

At the All groups level, the CPI rose in all capital cities this quarter. Melbourne and Perth registered the highest increases with rises of 1.3% and 1.1% respectively, while rises for all other capital cities were in the range of 0.5% to 0.8%.

At the eight capital cities level, the housing group was the highest positive contributor to the quarterly movement driven by rises for electricity. Increases were recorded in all capital cities with the housing group the largest positive contributor in Melbourne, Adelaide and Darwin.

The health group recorded the second highest positive contribution with rises in all capital cities ranging from 3.1% in Adelaide to 5.4% in Brisbane. In four capital cities the health group was the highest positive contributor. This was mainly due to increases in pharmaceuticals prices across all capital cities ranging from 11.9% in Perth to 15.4% in Hobart.

The financial and insurance services group was also a significant contributor to the quarterly movement showing increases in all capital cities. This was mainly due to deposit and loan facilities which recorded rises in all capital cities.

The clothing and footwear group was the largest negative contributor with falls in all capital cities ranging from 1.4% in Canberra to 7.9% in Perth. This was mainly due to the impact of price decreases for men's outerwear in seven capital cities and children's and infants' clothing in all capital cities.

The household contents and services group was the second largest negative contributor with falls in seven capital cities. The exception was Darwin (+0.7%) due to price increases for other household supplies.

Over the twelve months to March quarter 2010, the All groups CPI rose in all capital cities with the increases ranging from 2.6% in Canberra and Adelaide to 3.5% in Darwin. The higher result in Darwin is largely due to stronger than average rises in housing, alcohol and tobacco, transportation and household contents and services.

CPI, All groups index numbers and percentage changes
	INDEX NUMBER(a)	PERCENTAGE CHANGE
	Mar Qtr 2010	Mar 2009 to Mar 2010	Dec Qtr 2009 to Mar Qtr 2010
Sydney	170.5	3.0	0.8
Melbourne	168.5	2.8	1.3
Brisbane	176.0	3.0	0.7
Adelaide	173.7	2.6	0.6
Perth	171.6	3.4	1.1
Hobart	170.0	3.2	0.8
Darwin	168.7	3.5	0.5
Canberra	171.7	2.6	0.6
Weighted average of eight capital cities	171.0	2.9	0.9
(a) Base of each index: 1989-90 = 100.0.