1308.8 - In fACT - Statistical Information on the ACT and Region, Nov 2009  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 24/11/2009   
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Contents >> Economy >> Consumer Price Index

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX

Introduction

Change from previous year

Change from previous quarter


Introduction

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a widely used economic indicator, that provides a general measure of changes in prices of consumer goods and services purchased by Australian households. Prices are measured in each of the eight state and territory capital cities. The CPI 'basket' is split into 11 major groups:

Food, Alcohol and tobacco, Clothing and footwear, Housing, Household contents and services, Health, Transportation, Communication, Recreation, Education and Financial and insurance services. These groups contain the 90 expenditure classes, which in turn contain a selection of the individual items which are priced each quarter.

Further information about the CPI is contained in Australian Consumer Price Index: Concepts, Sources and Methods, 2005 (cat. no. 6461.0).


Change from previous year

In the year to September 2009, the All Groups Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 1.4% for Canberra and 1.3% nationally (weighted average of the eight capital cities). In Canberra the most significant price rise occurred in Education, up 6.2%. The most significant rise nationally was also in Education, up 5.6%.There were decreases, both nationally and in Canberra, for Transportation (nationally -5.1%, Canberra -4.9%) and Financial and insurance services (nationally -7.2%, Canberra -5.9%).

CPI GROUPS, Change from corresponding quarter of previous year - Sep Qtr 09
Graph: CPI GROUPS, Change from corresponding quarter of previous year—Sep Qtr 09



Change from previous quarter

In the September quarter 2009 the All Groups CPI rose by 0.9% for Canberra, and 1.0% nationally (weighted average of eight capital cities). The most significant price rise occurred in Transportation, up 2.2% in Canberra and Housing up 2.9% nationally.The most significant fall occurred for Food, down 1.0% in Canberra and Health, down 1.0% nationally.

CPI GROUPS, Change from previous period - Sep Qtr 09
Graph: CPI GROUPS, Change from previous period—Sep Qtr 09


The largest contributor to the increase of 0.9% in the CPI for Canberra in September quarter 2009 was Transportation (2.2%). Within the Transportation group, the key driver of the increase was the price for Urban transport fares, which rose by 5.9% in the quarter.

Consumer Price Index by Expenditure Class, Canberra - Transportation - Sep Qtr 09
Graph: Consumer Price Index by Expenditure Class, Canberra—Transportation—Sep Qtr 09





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