The most recent statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows that in the 12 months leading up to April 2024, the monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) indicator increased by 3.6%.
The head of ABS’s pricing statistics, Michelle Marquardt, stated: “This month’s annual inflation rate rose to 3.6% from 3.5% in March. Despite the fact that this is the second consecutive month that annual inflation has increased somewhat, inflation has been comparatively constant over the last five months.
Housing (+4.9%), food and non-alcoholic beverages (+3.8%), alcohol and tobacco (+6.5%), and transportation (+4.2%) were the main drivers to the April yearly increase.
“Products with unstable pricing fluctuations, such as vehicle gasoline, fruits and vegetables, and vacation trips, frequently have an impact on CPI inflation. To see the underlying inflation, it can be useful to take these components out of the headline CPI.
“The yearly increase to April was consistent at 4.1% when these volatile components were removed from the monthly CPI index. According to Ms. Marquardt, annual inflation, removing volatile items, is still greater than the monthly CPI statistic.
