Inflation falls to 3.6 per cent, but rents, education costs soar

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Inflation has fallen to 3.6 per cent successful the twelvemonth to March, but decades-high increases successful education, rental and security costs person helped support it supra the Reserve Bank’s people scope of 2-3 per cent.

While the yearly complaint of ostentation continues to ease, successful the archetypal 3 months of the year, ostentation roseate by 1 per cent, higher than the 0.6 per cent successful the past 3 months of 2023, Australian Bureau of Statistics caput of prices statistic Michelle Marquardt said.

Food was a large operator of ostentation successful the archetypal 3 months of the year.

“While prices continued to emergence for astir goods and services, yearly CPI ostentation was down from 4.1 per cent past 4th and has fallen from the highest of 7.8 per cent successful December 2022,” she said.

The Reserve Bank wants to get ostentation betwixt 2-3 per cent to assistance the economy, and has warned that portion ostentation is continuing to autumn it could instrumentality immoderate clip to get backmost down to that people range.

On an yearly basis, housing, nutrient and non-alcoholic beverages and intoxicant and baccy were the biggest contributors to the 3.6 per cent ostentation result.

Rental prices roseate by 7.8 per cent successful the twelvemonth to March, the strongest summation since March 2009. But the ABS said that summation would person been higher without the 15 per cent summation successful Commonwealth Rent Assistance that came into effect past September.

If the national authorities had not introduced those changes, rents would person soared by 9.5 per cent implicit the aforesaid period.

Education prices roseate by 5.2 per cent, the biggest emergence since 2012, driven by higher superior and secondary schoolhouse fees arsenic good arsenic tertiary acquisition fees.

Insurance prices besides roseate by the strongest complaint successful years, with higher reinsurance costs, earthy catastrophe costs and claims driving higher premiums and lifting security ostentation by 16.4 per cent done the year, the highest complaint since 2001.

Food ostentation has eased to 3.8 per cent, down from 4.5 per cent successful the twelvemonth to December and good beneath the 9.2 per cent highest successful December 2022. Prices for bread, cereals, dairy and nutrient products including condiments person risen implicit the past twelvemonth but astatine a slower complaint than successful erstwhile quarters.

Those increases were offset by a autumn successful nutrient and seafood prices which are down 1.6 per cent implicit the past year, the archetypal yearly autumn successful those prices successful much than a decade.

Electricity terms ostentation has besides fallen, to 2 per cent successful the twelvemonth to March compared to 6.9 per cent successful the twelvemonth to December, and the ABS noted that the Energy Bill Relief Fund rebates person continued to enactment beardown downward unit connected that inflation.

“Electricity prices person risen 3.9 per cent since the June 2023 quarter. Excluding the Energy Bill Relief Fund rebates, prices would person accrued by 17.0 per cent implicit this period,” the ABS said.