Selected Living Cost Indexes, Australia

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

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Reference period
September 2021
Released
3/11/2021
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Release date and time
03/11/2021 11:30am AEDT

Key statistics

Weighted average of eight capital cities, All groupsJun Qtr 2021 to
Sep Qtr 2021
% change		Sep Qtr 2020 to
Sep Qtr 2021
% change
Selected Living Cost Indexes (LCIs) - Household type:  
 Pensioner and Beneficiary LCI (PBLCI)0.52.7
 Employee LCI0.62.6
 Age Pensioner LCI0.62.6
 Other Government Transfer Recipient LCI0.32.7
 Self-funded Retiree LCI 0.72.9
Consumer Price Index (CPI)0.83.0

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

  • Transport was the main contributor for all five population sub-groups. The Automotive fuel series reached a record level in the September 2021 quarter, due to higher global oil prices amid economic recovery and supply disruptions.
  • Housing also contributed to the rise for all five population sub-groups, due to an increase in property rates, which is the largest rise since 2016. Many councils increased rates after implementing smaller rises, rebates or rate freezes last year.
  • All LCIs rose annually by between 2.6% and 2.9%. The increase is due to Automotive fuel with annual price rises of 25%.

What's new this quarter

Main contributors to change

Percentage change, Commodity group - June Quarter 2021 to September 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 beverages0.00.4-0.10.10.20.3
Alcohol and tobacco-0.6-0.5-0.6-0.7-0.4-0.5
Clothing and footwear-4.3-3.8-4.0-4.6-3.8-3.8
Housing (a)1.20.81.50.81.31.7
Furnishings, household equipment and services1.41.61.31.51.41.6
Health-1.30.3-1.0-1.9-0.10.0
Transport3.73.23.63.93.13.2
Communication-0.5-0.5-0.5-0.7-0.5-0.5
Recreation and culture0.80.80.80.80.70.9
Education0.10.10.00.10.00.1
Insurance and financial services (b)0.8-0.11.00.31.20.6
All groups0.50.60.60.30.70.8

(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. 

For further analysis on commodity group contributors, please see the the latest release of the Consumer Price Index

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 [426 KB]

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

Data files
Download xls [132 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, September 2021

Media releases