Monthly CPI indicator rose 4.9 per cent annually to July 2023

The monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) indicator rose 4.9 per cent in the 12 months to July 2023, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Michelle Marquardt, ABS head of prices statistics, said: ‘This month’s annual increase of 4.9 per cent is down from 5.4 per cent in June. Annual price rises continue to ease from the peak of 8.4 per cent in December 2022’.

The most significant contributors to the July annual increase were Housing (+7.3 per cent) and Food and non-alcoholic beverages (+5.6 per cent). Reducing the July increase were price falls for Automotive fuel (-7.6 per cent) and Fruit and vegetables (-5.4 per cent).

‘CPI inflation is often impacted by items with volatile price changes like automotive fuel, fruit and vegetables, and holiday travel. It can be helpful to exclude these items from the headline CPI indicator to provide a view of underlying inflation. When excluding these volatile items, the decline in annual inflation is more modest at 5.8 per cent in July, compared to 6.1 per cent in June’, Ms Marquardt said.