Monthly Consumer Price Index Indicator

Latest release

The monthly CPI indicator is a measure of inflation and includes statistics about prices for categories of households expenditure

Reference period
December 2024
Released
29/01/2025
  • Next Release 26/02/2025
    Monthly Consumer Price Index Indicator, January 2025
  • Next Release 26/03/2025
    Monthly Consumer Price Index Indicator, February 2025
  • Next Release 30/04/2025
    Monthly Consumer Price Index Indicator, March 2025
  • View all releases

Key statistics

  • The monthly CPI indicator rose 2.5% in the 12 months to December.
  • The top contributors to the annual movement were Food and non-alcoholic beverages (+2.7%), Alcohol and tobacco (+5.8%), and Housing (+1.5%). Partly offsetting the rise in the monthly CPI indicator was an annual fall for Electricity (-17.9%).

What's new this month

Update to the CPI weights next month

The CPI weights are updated each year to ensure the weights used in the CPI basket reflect contemporary household spending patterns. The next CPI weights update will be implemented in January. The updated CPI weights will be published at the same time as the January monthly CPI indicator release on 26 February 2025.

Main features

Weighted average of eight capital cities, annual movement
 Oct 23 to Oct 24 % changeNov 23 to Nov 24 % changeDec 23 to Dec 24 % change
All groups monthly CPI2.12.32.5
Food and non-alcoholic beverages3.32.92.7
 Bread and cereal products3.02.72.2
 Meat and seafood1.32.44.0
 Dairy and related products-1.8-0.9-0.9
 Fruit and vegetables8.56.04.5
 Food products n.e.c.3.83.32.9
 Non-alcoholic beverages4.73.63.1
Alcohol and tobacco6.06.75.8
 Alcohol3.24.13.0
 Tobacco12.212.212.2
Clothing and footwear0.62.01.3
 Garments-0.51.70.6
Housing0.21.21.5
 Rents6.76.66.2
 New dwelling purchases by owner-occupiers4.22.82.3
 Electricity-35.6-21.5-17.9
 Gas and other household fuels4.45.34.0
Furnishings, household equipment and services1.61.61.3
Health3.93.94.0
Transport-2.8-2.40.7
 Automotive fuel-11.5-10.2-1.4
Communications-0.70.1-0.1
Recreation and culture4.33.21.6
 Holiday travel and accommodation8.03.8-0.1
Education6.36.36.5
Insurance and financial services6.35.55.2
CPI analytical series   
 Seasonally adjusted2.22.42.5
 CPI excluding volatile items* and holiday travel2.42.82.7
 Annual trimmed mean3.53.22.7

* = Volatile items are Fruit and vegetables and Automotive fuel

Monthly overview

The monthly CPI indicator rose 2.5% in the 12 months to December, up from the 2.3% rise in the 12 months to November.

The annual movement for the monthly CPI indicator excluding volatile items and holiday travel was 2.7% in December following a 2.8% rise in November. This series excludes Automotive fuel, Fruit and vegetables and Holiday travel and accommodation.

The annual trimmed mean is an alternative measure of underlying inflation that reduces the impact of irregular or temporary price changes. Annual trimmed mean inflation, which excluded annual falls in Electricity and Automotive fuel, and rises in Tobacco and Rents, alongside other large price rises and falls, was 2.7% in December, down from 3.2% in November.

*Volatile items are Fruit and vegetables and Automotive fuel

Electricity

Electricity prices fell 17.9% in the 12 months to December, which followed a 21.5% annual fall to November. Electricity rebates remain in place lowering electricity prices for households in annual terms. The annual fall in electricity prices continued to soften due to base effects, with a fall in December 2023 (-5.7%) no longer contributing to the annual movement.  

The monthly fall of 1.5% in December was due to the second instalments of both the 2024-25 Commonwealth Energy Bill Relief Fund (EBRF) rebate and the State rebate for households in Western Australia. 

 
Commonwealth $300 rebate
WA $400 State rebateQLD $1,000 State rebateTAS $250 State rebate (Renewable Energy Dividend)
Rebate methodApplied directly to electricity bills as four equal $75 quarterly instalments in the 2024-25 FY (a)Applied directly to electricity bills as two equal $200 instalments from July and December 2024Applied directly to electricity bills as a one-off $1,000 rebateApplied directly to electricity bills as a one-off $250 rebate
TimingFrom July 2024 for WA (b) and QLD. For all remaining States and Territories, from August 2024. (c) and (d)From July 2024 (b) From July 2024From July 2024
  1. This applies to all States and Territories, except WA, where rebates will be applied directly to electricity bills as two equal $150 instalments from July 2024 and December 2024.
  2. In Western Australia, the first instalment of both Energy Bill Relief Fund 2024-25 and $400 Electricity Credit has been paid from 20 July 2024. The remaining proportion of households whose billing cycle is in July 2024 have received their first instalment in October 2024.
  3. For States and Territories receiving rebates from August, the households whose billing cycle is in July 2024 have received two instalments in October 2024.
  4. In New South Wales and Victoria, the first instalment of Energy Bill Relief Fund 2024-25 has been paid from part way through August 2024. The remaining proportion of households whose billing cycle is in August have been paid their first instalment in November 2024.

The following graph shows the Electricity series including and excluding government electricity rebates. The EBRF rebates were first introduced in July 2023 and were expanded to all households in July 2024. These rebates have had the effect of reducing electricity prices for households. Including government electricity rebates, electricity prices for households have fallen by 15.8% since June 2023. Excluding these rebates, electricity prices for households would have increased 16.9% since June 2023.

June 2023, index = 100

a) Introduction of the 2023-24 Energy Bill Relief Fund (EBRF) rebates

b) Introduction of the first instalment of 2024-25 Commonwealth rebates for all households in QLD and WA, and State rebates in QLD, WA and TAS

c) Introduction of the first instalment of 2024-25 Commonwealth rebates for all households in NSW, VIC, SA, TAS, NT and ACT

d) Introduction of the second instalment of 2024-25 Commonwealth rebates for all households in NSW, VIC, QLD, SA, TAS, NT and ACT

e) Introduction of the second instalment of 2024-25 Commonwealth rebates and State rebate for all households in WA

Food and non-alcoholic beverages

Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose 2.7% in the 12 months to December, which follows a 2.9% rise in the 12 months to November. The December annual movement for Food and non-alcoholic beverages is the lowest since December 2021.

Fruit and vegetable prices rose 4.5% in the 12 months to December, softer than the 6.0% rise in the 12 months to November. While prices remain higher compared to 12 months ago, December is the fourth consecutive monthly fall (-1.4%). Seasonal falls for berries, grapes and stone fruit drove the December month fall. 

Dairy and related products remains the only food category to record a decrease annually, following cuts to farmgate milk prices.

New dwellings and Rents

New dwelling prices, which capture new builds and major renovations, rose 2.3% in the 12 months to December. Price growth has eased in recent months resulting in the weakest annual rise since July 2021. This is due to project home builders offering incentives and promotional offers to entice business. In monthly terms, new dwelling prices rose 0.1% in December.

Rental prices increased 6.2% in the 12 months to December, following a rise of 6.6% in the 12 months to November. In monthly terms, Rental prices rose 0.3%, following a 0.6% rise in November. Easing rental price growth reflects recent increases in vacancy rates across most capital cities.

Automotive fuel

Automotive fuel prices fell 1.4% in the twelve months to December, following an annual fall of 10.2% to November. The annual fall in fuel prices softened due to base effects, with a fall in December 2023 (-5.5%) no longer contributing to the annual movement. The annual fall reflects lower global oil prices over the year. 

In monthly terms fuel prices rose 3.8%, which is the second monthly rise in six months. 

Holiday travel and accommodation

Holiday travel and accommodation prices fell 0.1% in the 12 months to December, following a rise of 3.8% in the 12 months to November.

In monthly terms, Holiday travel and accommodation prices rose 11.5%. International travel and accommodation drove the rise as prices for international airfares rose across many popular destinations during the holiday season.

Data downloads

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Data explorer for the monthly CPI indicator.

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Detailed monthly data

Monthly Expenditure class data

About the monthly CPI indicator

What is the monthly CPI Indicator?

Introducing monthly indicators of underlying inflation

Articles

Measuring Rents in the CPI 

Using price indexes

Price indexes published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) provide summary measures of the movements in various categories of prices over time. They are published primarily for use in Government economic analysis. 

Consistent with existing policy, the ABS does not comment on the use (or otherwise) of the price indexes we publish. However, it should be noted that the monthly CPI indicator may be routinely subject to revision, in contrast to the quarterly CPI which is only revised in exceptional circumstances.

Use of Price Indexes in Contracts sets out a range of issues that should be taken into account by parties considering including an Indexation Clause in a contract using an ABS published price index.

Frequently asked questions

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) specific to the monthly CPI indicator can be found in the Information paper: Introducing a monthly CPI indicator for Australia FAQs 

In addition, the Frequently Asked Questions page has answers to a number of common questions to do with price indexes and the quarterly Consumer Price Index in particular.

Methodology

Scope

The monthly CPI indicator is a general measure of price change for goods and services purchased by Australian households.

Geography

Monthly data is published at the national level, derived as a weighted average of the eight capital cities.

Source

Prices are collected for a range of goods and services (the CPI basket) from a variety of retailers across the eight capital cities.

Collection method

Prices are collected in a range of frequencies including monthly, quarterly, and annually using: 

  • web-scraping
  • online and telephone collections from retailers
  • administrative data, including supermarket scanner data.

Concepts, sources and methods

Information about the data sources and methods used to compile the CPI is contained in the Consumer Price Index: Concepts, Sources and Methods.

History of changes

  • Annual update of CPI weights January 2024. 
  • Partial update of CPI weights July 2023.
  • Monthly Gas series included June 2023.
  • Annual trimmed mean included April 2023.
  • Monthly Electricity included February 2023.
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