6401.0 - Consumer Price Index, Australia, Mar 2019 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 24/04/2019   
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MEDIA RELEASE
24 April 2019
Embargoed: 11.30 am (Canberra time)
CPI recorded no movement in the March quarter 2019

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded no movement (0.0 per cent) in the March quarter 2019, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures. This follows a rise of 0.5 per cent in the December quarter 2018.

The March quarter 2019 CPI was a result of price rises in a number of goods and services being fully offset by a number of price falls. This was consistent across most of the capital cities.

The most significant rises in the March quarter were vegetables (+7.7 per cent), secondary education (+4.2 per cent) and motor vehicles (+2.4 per cent). Drought and adverse weather conditions continue to reduce the supply of a selection of fruits and vegetables.

These rises were offset by falls in automotive fuel (-8.7 per cent), domestic holiday, travel and accommodation (-3.8 per cent) and international holiday, travel and accommodation (-2.1 per cent). Lower world oil prices at the end of 2018 saw automotive fuel prices fall 6.1 per cent in January, before rising in February and March, 4.2 per cent and 5.2 per cent respectively.

The CPI rose 1.3 per cent per cent through the year to the March quarter 2019, after increasing 1.8 per cent through the year to the December quarter 2018.


Media note:
  • The tradables component comprises all products whose price change is largely determined on the world market. A product is defined as tradable if a significant proportion of its domestic output is exported or if a significant proportion of its demand for domestic consumption is imported. The non-tradable component consists of the remaining commodities.
  • A CPI Explainer on Measuring Underlying Inflation was recently published.
  • When reporting ABS data you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.
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