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
February 2025
Released
26/03/2025
  • Next Release 30/04/2025
    Monthly Consumer Price Index Indicator, March 2025
  • Next Release 28/05/2025
    Monthly Consumer Price Index Indicator, April 2025
  • Next Release 25/06/2025
    Monthly Consumer Price Index Indicator, May 2025
  • View all releases

Key statistics

  • The monthly CPI indicator rose 2.4% in the 12 months to February.
  • The largest contributors to the annual movement were Food and non-alcoholic beverages (+3.1%), Alcohol and tobacco (+6.7%), and Housing (+1.8%).  

Main features

Weighted average of eight capital cities, annual movement
 Dec 23 to Dec 24 % changeJan 24 to Jan 25 % changeFeb 24 to Feb 25 % change
All groups monthly CPI2.52.52.4
Food and non-alcoholic beverages2.73.33.1
 Bread and cereal products2.23.02.3
 Meat and seafood4.04.74.4
 Dairy and related products-0.9-0.4-0.3
 Fruit and vegetables4.57.05.2
 Food products n.e.c.2.93.12.7
 Non-alcoholic beverages3.12.74.3
Alcohol and tobacco5.86.46.7
 Alcohol3.03.53.7
 Tobacco12.212.613.2
Clothing and footwear1.32.11.8
 Garments0.60.90.6
Housing1.52.11.8
 Rents6.25.85.5
 New dwelling purchases by owner-occupiers2.32.01.6
 Electricity-17.9-11.5-13.2
 Gas and other household fuels4.06.06.3
Furnishings, household equipment and services1.31.01.0
Health4.04.04.0
Transport0.70.5-0.9
 Automotive fuel-1.4-1.9-5.5
Communications-0.1-0.60.3
Recreation and culture1.60.91.4
 Holiday travel and accommodation-0.1-0.81.0
Education6.56.55.6
Insurance and financial services5.25.34.5
CPI analytical series   
 Seasonally adjusted2.52.72.4
 CPI excluding volatile items* and holiday travel2.72.92.7
 Annual trimmed mean2.72.82.7

* = Volatile items are Fruit and vegetables and Automotive fuel

Monthly overview

The monthly CPI indicator rose 2.4% in the 12 months to February, following a 2.5% rise in the 12 months to January. 

The monthly CPI indicator excluding volatile items and holiday travel rose 2.7% in the 12 months to February following a 2.9% rise in the 12 months to January. 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 the annual fall in Electricity, alongside other large price rises and falls, was 2.7% in February, down from 2.8% in January. 

*Volatile items are Fruit and vegetables and Automotive fuel

Food and non-alcoholic beverages

Annual inflation for Food and non-alcoholic beverages was 3.1% in February compared to 3.3% in January, reflecting a softening in annual inflation across a number of grocery items.

Dairy and related products (-0.3%) remains the only food category to record an annual price fall following cuts to farmgate milk prices.

Rents

Rental prices rose 5.5% in the 12 months to February, following a 5.8% rise to January. This was the softest annual growth in rental prices since March 2023, consistent with the increase in vacancy rates across most capital cities. In monthly terms, rental prices rose 0.5% driven by increases in both private rents and government rents.

New dwellings

New dwelling prices, which capture new builds and major renovations, rose 1.6% in the 12 months to February. Price growth has continued to ease and was the weakest annual rise since May 2021. This is due to project home builders offering incentives and promotional offers to entice business. In the month of February, new dwelling prices fell 0.1%. 

Electricity

Electricity prices fell 13.2% in the 12 months to February following a 11.5% annual fall to January. The additional decline in annual inflation for electricity is mostly due to the timing of when households received instalments of the Commonwealth Energy Bill Relief Fund (EBRF) rebates in Victoria. In Victoria, payments of the third instalment of the EBRF rebate began from 13th January 2025. As a result, some Victorian households did not receive a rebate payment in January while all households billed in February received the third instalment of the EBRF rebate.

Commonwealth and State government electricity rebates
 
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 have been 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. The second instalment of rebates has been paid from 7 December 2024. The remaining proportion of households whose billing cycle is in December 2024 will receive their second instalment in March 2025. 
  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 received their first instalment in November 2024. In Victoria, the third instalment of Energy Bill Relief Fund 2024-25 has been paid from part way through January 2025. The remaining proportion of households whose billing cycle is in January will receive their third instalment in April 2025.

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 10.6% since June 2023. Excluding these rebates, electricity prices for households would have increased 16.7% 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

f. Introduction of the third instalment of 2024-25 Commonwealth rebates for all households in NSW, VIC, QLD, SA, TAS, NT and ACT

Insurance

Insurance prices rose 7.6% in the 12 months to February. Insurance price growth has continued to soften from its peak of 16.5% which occurred 12 months ago. Increases in motor vehicle insurance, in particular, have slowed reflecting an easing in costs for spare parts and labour for motor vehicle repairs, as well as lower second-hand vehicle prices. 

Education

Education prices rose 5.6% in the 12 months to February reflecting fee increases at the start of the school year.

Secondary education rose 6.3% in the 12 months to February, while Preschool and primary education rose 7.6% to February. The rises were driven by higher operating costs that were passed through as higher school fees. Tertiary education rose 3.8% to February following the indexation of university course fees. 

Automotive fuel

Automotive fuel prices fell 5.5% in the 12 months to February, following a 1.9% fall in the 12 months to January. In the month of February, Automotive fuel prices rose 1.2%.

The significant fall in the annual movement was driven by base effects, with the 5.1% price rise in the month of February 2024 no longer contributing to the annual movement in February 2025.

Holiday travel and accommodation

Holiday travel and accommodation prices rose 1.0% in the 12 months to February, following a 0.8% fall in the 12 months to January. 

In the month of February, Holiday travel and accommodation prices fell 7.6% following a 5.9% decline in the month of January. The fall was due to lower demand following the peak holiday season in December. 

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 2025.
  • 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.
View full methodology
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