ABS announces the Monthly CPI to start in November 2025
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) announced today that its work to transition from the quarterly Consumer Price Index (CPI) to a complete monthly measure of the CPI is on track.
On Wednesday, 26 November 2025, the ABS will commence the Monthly CPI publication using the October 2025 reference month. This publication will mark the transition from the quarterly CPI to the Monthly CPI as Australia’s primary measure of headline inflation. From this time, the Monthly CPI Indicator will no longer be produced.
Australian Statistician Dr David Gruen AO said: ‘I am excited to announce that the ABS will deliver an important addition to Australia’s economic data starting in November 2025.
‘Since its introduction in 2022, the Monthly CPI Indicator has provided a helpful earlier read on inflation.
‘The transition to a complete, internationally comparable Monthly CPI as Australia’s primary measure of headline inflation will provide better information for monetary and fiscal policy decisions that have a direct impact on all Australians.’
Publishing a complete CPI monthly will bring Australia in line with all other G20 countries. This will make it easier to compare Australia’s inflation trends with those of other advanced economies and provide the community with detailed inflation data every month.
To produce a complete Monthly CPI, the ABS has collected prices data more frequently and rebuilt the IT system currently used to compile the CPI in a secure, efficient cloud environment.
The Monthly CPI will reflect comprehensive coverage of price changes each month (noting the price of some goods and services, such as school fees, do not change monthly). By contrast, the current Monthly CPI indicator reflects up-to-date prices for around two thirds of goods and services in any given month.
‘This transition has been made possible by the Government’s continuing support for the ABS’ modernisation and our trusted role in informing important decisions that have an impact on everyone’s daily lives,’ Dr Gruen said.
The ABS has worked closely with the RBA, Treasury, other federal and state government agencies, academics, financial market participants and international experts to ensure the complete monthly CPI meets the needs of users across the economy. To support these needs:
- The Monthly CPI data series and the new monthly analytical series will go back to April 2024 (when the ABS increased the frequency of data collection).
- The ABS will continue to produce a quarterly CPI data series (calculated as the average of the three relevant Monthly CPIs) to support those needing quarterly CPI figures for indexation, contracts or other purposes.
- For at least 18 months, the ABS will continue to produce the CPI quarterly seasonally adjusted series, including the Trimmed mean, based on current methods. This will provide sufficient time to identify seasonal patterns for the new monthly data series.
Further details about the ABS’ transition to the Monthly CPI including the release schedule, details about what data will be included in the new publication, and the ABS’ approach to seasonally adjusting new monthly data are available here.
The ABS will run a virtual stakeholder briefing on Tuesday, 29 July 2025. To pre-register and submit questions for the briefing follow this link.
Media notes
- The new monthly product will continue to be titled Consumer Price Index, Australia.
- The complete Monthly CPI will replace the current Monthly Consumer Price Index Indicator. The Indicator will no longer be published after the 29 October 2025 release.
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