Wages

Broad opportunities for employment and well-paid, secure jobs

Release date and time

15/09/2025 11:30am AEST

Released 15/09/2025

Metric

Growth in the wage price index adjusted for inflation, as measured by the consumer price index

Why this matters

Increases in real wages allow households to increase the volume or quality of consumption, improving their wellbeing outcomes.

Declining real wage performance negatively impacts the welfare of households as it means pay rises are not keeping up with the price of goods and services.

Progress

In the year to the June 2025 quarter:

the Wage Price Index rose by 3.4%
the Consumer Price Index rose by 2.1%
real wage growth was 1.3%.

Real wage growth (a)
	WPI annual growth (%)	CPI annual growth (%)	Annual real wage growth (%)
Jun-05	4.1	2.5	1.6
Sep-05	4.2	3.1	1.1
Dec-05	4.1	2.8	1.3
Mar-06	4.1	2.9	1.2
Jun-06	4.0	4.0	0.0
Sep-06	4.0	4.0	0.0
Dec-06	4.1	3.3	0.8
Mar-07	4.0	2.5	1.5
Jun-07	4.1	2.1	2.0
Sep-07	4.3	1.8	2.5
Dec-07	4.0	2.9	1.1
Mar-08	4.1	4.3	-0.2
Jun-08	4.2	4.4	-0.2
Sep-08	4.2	5.0	-0.8
Dec-08	4.3	3.7	0.6
Mar-09	4.1	2.4	1.7
Jun-09	3.8	1.4	2.4
Sep-09	3.0	1.2	1.8
Dec-09	2.9	2.1	0.8
Mar-10	3.0	2.9	0.1
Jun-10	3.0	3.1	-0.1
Sep-10	3.6	2.9	0.7
Dec-10	3.9	2.8	1.1
Mar-11	3.9	3.3	0.6
Jun-11	3.8	3.5	0.3
Sep-11	3.6	3.4	0.2
Dec-11	3.6	3.0	0.6
Mar-12	3.6	1.6	2.0
Jun-12	3.8	1.2	2.6
Sep-12	3.8	2.0	1.8
Dec-12	3.4	2.2	1.2
Mar-13	3.1	2.5	0.6
Jun-13	2.8	2.4	0.4
Sep-13	2.6	2.2	0.4
Dec-13	2.6	2.7	-0.1
Mar-14	2.7	2.9	-0.2
Jun-14	2.6	3.0	-0.4
Sep-14	2.6	2.3	0.3
Dec-14	2.5	1.7	0.8
Mar-15	2.3	1.3	1.0
Jun-15	2.3	1.5	0.8
Sep-15	2.3	1.5	0.8
Dec-15	2.2	1.7	0.5
Mar-16	2.1	1.3	0.8
Jun-16	2.1	1.0	1.1
Sep-16	1.9	1.3	0.6
Dec-16	1.9	1.5	0.4
Mar-17	1.9	2.1	-0.2
Jun-17	1.9	1.9	0.0
Sep-17	2.0	1.8	0.2
Dec-17	2.1	1.9	0.2
Mar-18	2.0	1.9	0.1
Jun-18	2.1	2.1	0.0
Sep-18	2.3	1.9	0.4
Dec-18	2.3	1.8	0.5
Mar-19	2.3	1.3	1.0
Jun-19	2.3	1.6	0.7
Sep-19	2.2	1.7	0.5
Dec-19	2.2	1.8	0.4
Mar-20	2.2	2.2	0.0
Jun-20	1.8	-0.3	2.1
Sep-20	1.4	0.7	0.7
Dec-20	1.3	0.9	0.4
Mar-21	1.5	1.1	0.4
Jun-21	1.8	3.8	-2.0
Sep-21	2.2	3.0	-0.8
Dec-21	2.4	3.5	-1.1
Mar-22	2.4	5.1	-2.7
Jun-22	2.6	6.1	-3.5
Sep-22	3.2	7.3	-4.1
Dec-22	3.4	7.8	-4.4
Mar-23	3.7	7.0	-3.3
Jun-23	3.7	6.0	-2.3
Sep-23	4.0	5.4	-1.4
Dec-23	4.2	4.1	0.1
Mar-24	4.0	3.6	0.4
Jun-24	4.1	3.8	0.3
Sep-24	3.5	2.8	0.7
Dec-24	3.2	2.4	0.8
Mar-25	3.4	2.4	1.0
Jun-25	3.4	2.1	1.3

Real wage growth (a)

["","WPI annual growth","CPI annual growth","Annual real wage growth"]

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[]

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Annual real wage growth: calculated by subtracting CPI annual growth from the same period’s WPI annual growth.

Sources:

WPI annual growth: Wage Price Index, Australia, June 2025 | Australian Bureau of Statistics, Table 1, Percentage Change from Corresponding Quarter of Previous Year, Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses, Australia, Private and Public, All industries, Seasonally Adjusted.
CPI annual growth: Consumer Price Index, Australia, June Quarter 2025 | Australian Bureau of Statistics, Tables 1 and 2, Percentage Change from Corresponding Quarter of Previous Year, All groups CPI, Australia, Original.