Monthly Consumer Price Index Indicator, December 2022

Nov 07, 2023

Detail

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

Detail

The release of the monthly CPI indicator includes a Trimmed mean series which was intended to provide additional analytical insights into inflation on a monthly basis. The ABS has identified that the Trimmed mean series is not, however, providing a reliable indicator for the principal measure of trimmed mean inflation published in the quarterly CPI publication. The ABS will suspend the publication of the monthly Trimmed mean series while we investigate. Trimmed mean inflation will continue to be published as part of the release of the quarterly CPI.

Oct 21 to Oct 22

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Nov 21 to Nov 22

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Dec 21 to Dec 22

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*Volatile items are Fruit and vegetables and Automotive fuel

The monthly CPI indicator annual movement increased to 8.4% in December, up from 7.3% in November. This is the highest annual movement since the start of the monthly indicator series, reflecting ongoing inflationary pressure.

The annual movement for CPI excluding volatile items rose to 8.1%. This excludes Fruit and vegetables and Automotive fuel.

Annual inflation remains elevated in all CPI groups reflecting the broad-based nature of price increases over the year.

New dwelling prices rose 16.0% in the year to December as builders passed through higher costs for labour and materials. Fewer grant payments from the Federal Government's HomeBuilder program and similar state-based housing construction grants also contributed to the rise in new dwelling prices.

The rate of price growth has continued to ease in December compared to the 17.9% annual rise in November. This reflects subdued new demand and improvements in the supply of materials.

Gas and electricity price rises also contributed to the Housing group annual increase.

Rent prices increased further this month from an annual rise of 3.6% in November to 4.1% in December, reflecting low vacancy rates and a tight rental market.

Over the twelve months to December, Food and non-alcoholic beverages rose 9.5%, with strong price rises seen across all categories. These increases reflect high input costs, adverse weather conditions, as well as strong Christmas demand.

Holiday travel and accommodation rose 29.3% in the year to December, up from 12.8% in November. Increased demand during the Christmas holiday period contributed to prices rises for both Domestic holiday travel and accommodation and International holiday travel and accommodation.

December saw the largest annual and monthly increase for Holiday travel and accommodation since the series began in 2018.

Automotive fuel prices increased 10.8% in the twelve months to December, down from 16.6% in November.

December average unleaded petrol prices remained approximately 15 cents below the November average before peaking towards the end of the month.

Analytical series Australia, Index Numbers and Percentage Change from Corresponding Month of Previous Year, Weighted Average of Eight Capital Cities

Analytical series, Australia, Percentage Change from previous period, Weighted Average of Eight Capital Cities

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Data explorer for the monthly CPI indicator.

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2022

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2021

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Change

The monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) indicator was developed to provide inflation data at a higher frequency for use by governments, economists and the wider community. The quarterly CPI remains the principal measure of household inflation.

The monthly CPI indicator is derived using available data from the quarterly CPI. The ABS collects prices for the CPI in a range of frequencies including monthly, quarterly, and annual. The frequency of price collection is determined by how often prices change. Where price change occurs frequently, such as for food and petrol, monthly price data is collected. Where price change is less frequent, such as for restaurant meals and hairdressers, price data is available quarterly. In some cases, prices are collected once per year where it is known prices only change annually. This is the case for some education fees, property rates and private health insurance.

For this reason, the composition of the monthly CPI basket varies across the three months of the quarter, details of the monthly coverage composition are detailed in Table 1 below.

* n.e.c Not elsewhere classified

Monthly CPI indicator rose 6.8% in the year to August, 29 September 2022

Introducing a monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) indicator for Australia, 16 August 2022

Introducing a monthly CPI indicator, 16 August 2022

ABS to release new monthly CPI Indicator, 10 August 2022

New data source

What the CPI Rents series measures

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 (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.

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