Australia's CPI inflation jumps to 6.8% YoY in Apri

May 31, 2023 (MLN): Australia Consumer Price Index (CPI) indicator rose 6.8 YoY in April 2023, according to the latest data issued by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Australian consumer prices rose by more than expected in April on a jump in fuel prices and strong gains in housing, suggesting sticky inflation will likely keep pressure on the central bank.

This month's annual increase of 6.8% is higher than the 6.3% annual rise reported in March 2023, but is below the high of 8.4% recorded in December 2022.

Michelle Marquardt, ABS head of prices statistics, said: “It’s important to note that a significant contributor to the increase in the annual movement in April was automotive fuel. The halving of the fuel excise tax in April 2022, which was fully unwound in October 2022, is impacting the annual movement for April 2023.”

CPI inflation is often impacted by items with volatile price change such as automotive fuel, fruit and vegetables and holiday travel.

"It can be helpful to exclude items with volatile price changes from the headline CPI to provide a view of underlying inflation,”

Ms Marquardt said. “When excluding these volatile items, the annual movement of the monthly CPI indicator was 6.5% in April, lower than 6.9% recorded in March."

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