Inflation spikes as petrol, rent costs bite

Inflation in Australia in the 12 months to August 2023 rose 5.2 per cent, largely matching market expectations.

New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows strong increases in the cost of housing and fuel contributed to the minor bump, up from 4.9 per cent the month prior.

"This month's annual increase of 5.2 per cent is up from 4.9 per cent in July. Annual inflation remains below the peak of 8.4 per cent in December 2022," ABS head of prices statistics Michelle Marquardt said.

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According to the ABS, the most significant contributors to the August annual increase were housing (+6.6 per cent), transport (+7.4 per cent), food and non-alcoholic beverages (+4.4 per cent) and insurance and financial services (+8.8 per cent).

"CPI inflation is often impacted by items with volatile price changes like automotive fuel, fruit and vegetables, and holiday travel," Marquardt said.

"It can be helpful to exclude these items from the headline CPI to provide a view of underlying inflation.

"When excluding these volatile items from the monthly CPI indicator, the annual rise of 5.5 per cent in August is lower than the annual rise of 5.8 per cent in July."

More to come.