Selected Living Cost Indexes, Australia

This is not the latest release View the latest release

Living Cost Indexes (LCIs) measures the price change of goods and services and its effect on living expenses of selected household types

Cite
Print
Reference period
June 2021
Released
4/08/2021
View all releases

Key statistics

Weighted average of eight capital cities, All groupsMar Qtr 2021 to
Jun Qtr 2021
% change		Jun Qtr 2020 to
Jun Qtr 2021
% change
Selected Living Cost Indexes (LCIs) - Household type:  
 Pensioner and Beneficiary LCI (PBLCI)0.92.9
 Employee LCI0.63.3
 Age Pensioner LCI1.02.3
 Other Government Transfer Recipient LCI0.83.5
 Self-funded Retiree LCI 0.92.7
Consumer Price Index (CPI)0.83.8

In the June 2021 quarter, all five living cost indexes rose:

  • Transport was the main contributor for four out of the five population sub-groups. Fuel prices rose due to continued recovery in global oil prices following COVID-19 lockdowns. Fuel prices have surpassed pre-pandemic March 2020 quarter price levels.  
  • Housing also contributed to the rise for four out of five population sub-groups due to the unwinding of the Western Australian government's $600 electricity credit introduced in the December 2020 quarter.    
  • All LCIs rose annually. The increase in annual LCIs inflation includes some 'base effects' following the introduction of free child care and a record fall in fuel prices in the June 2020 quarter. 

What's new this quarter

  • International holiday travel and accommodation was measured in the LCIs in the June 2021 quarter, having been imputed since the June 2020 quarter. Prices were used for travel to New Zealand following the commencement of quarantine-free travel between Australia and New Zealand from April 2021.

Main contributors to change

Percentage change, Commodity group - March Quarter 2021 to June Quarter 2021
Weighted average of eight capital citiesPensioner and beneficiary LCIEmployee LCIAge pensioner LCIOther government transfer recipient LCISelf-funded retiree LCIConsumer Price Index (CPI)
       
Food and non-alcoholic beverages0.80.40.80.80.60.5
Alcohol and tobacco0.40.40.40.40.20.4
Clothing and footwear0.80.50.51.00.50.4
Housing (a)1.30.71.61.10.60.3
Furnishings, household equipment and services0.91.10.90.81.01.1
Health-0.11.60.2-0.71.41.5
Transport3.23.03.33.22.82.8
Communication-0.5-0.7-0.4-0.5-0.5-0.6
Recreation and culture0.10.00.20.0-0.2-0.1
Education0.00.00.00.00.00.0
Insurance and financial services (b)0.6-0.81.10.11.30.3
All groups0.90.61.00.80.90.8

(a) New dwelling purchase by owner-occupiers are included in the CPI but excluded from the Selected Living Cost Indexes.
(b) The Selected Living Cost Indexes includes interest charges and general insurance. Interest charges are excluded from the CPI and general insurance is calculated on a different basis.

Transport

  • Rose across all households due to increases in automotive fuel prices. World oil prices continue to recover following COVID-19 lockdowns, with fuel prices surpassing pre-pandemic March 2020 quarter levels.

Housing

  • Rose across all households due to increases in electricity prices, with the unwinding of the Western Australian government's $600 credit driving a rise in Perth electricity prices. 

Food and non-alcoholic beverages

  • Rose across all households due to an increase in fruit and vegetable prices as a shortage of pickers, extreme rainfall on the east coast of Australia and Cyclone Niran affecting banana crop yields.

Population sub-groups

Pensioner and beneficiary households (+0.9%)

  • Living costs for pensioner and beneficiary households recorded a larger rise than the CPI due to their higher expenditure on electricity.   
  • Over the past twelve months the Pensioner and Beneficiary Living Cost Index (PBLCI) rose 2.9%.

Employee households (+0.6%)

  • Living costs for employee households recorded the smallest rise of all household types due to a higher expenditure on mortgage interest charges which fell 2.4% this quarter. Mortgage interest charges fell due to recent reductions in fixed interest rates.
  • Over the past twelve months the Living Cost Index for employee households rose 3.3%.

Age pensioner households (+1.0%)

  • Living costs for age pensioner households recorded the largest rise of all household types due to a higher expenditure for electricity, fruit and vegetables. 
  • Over the past twelve months the Living Cost Index for age pensioner households rose 2.3%.

Other government transfer recipient households (+0.8%)

  • Living costs for other government transfer recipient households recorded the same rise as the CPI. The main contributors were automotive fuel and electricity.
  • Over the past twelve months the Living Cost Index for other government transfer recipient households rose 3.5%. 

Self–funded retiree households (+0.9%)

  • Living costs for self–funded retiree households recorded a larger rise than the CPI due to a higher expenditure for medical and hospital services.
  • Over the past twelve months the Living Cost Index for self–funded retiree households rose 2.7%. 

Data downloads

Table 1. All groups, index numbers and percentage changes, by household type

Data files
Download xls [82.5 KB]

Table 2. Commodity groups, index numbers, percentage changes and points contributions, by household type

Data files
Download xls [446 KB]

Table 3. Gross insurance, mortgage interest and consumer credit, index numbers and percentage changes, by household type

Data files
Download xls [131.5 KB]

Use of price indexes in contracts

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. Price indexes are also often used in contracts by businesses and government to adjust payments and/or charges to take account of changes in categories of prices (Indexation Clauses).

Use of Price Indexes in Contracts that 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

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

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 6467.0.

Methodology

Selected Living Cost Indexes, Australia methodology, June 2021