Australia's CPI inflation hits lowest since 2021 at 2.1% in Oct

Michelle Marquardt, ABS head of prices statistics, said: “Annual inflation was steady at 2.1 per cent in October and remains the lowest annual inflation since July 2021.”

The top contributors to the annual movement at the group level were food and non-alcoholic beverages (+3.3 per cent), recreation and culture (+4.3 per cent), and alcohol and tobacco (+6.0 per cent).

Annual CPI inflation has fallen from 3.8 per cent in June to 2.1 per cent in October due, in part, due to significant price falls in electricity and automotive fuel. Electricity fell 35.6 per cent in the 12 months to October, which is the largest annual fall in the electricity series ever recorded in the CPI. Automotive fuel prices fell 11.5 per cent over the past 12 months after repeated price falls in recent months, ABS said in a media release.

“The falls in electricity and fuel had a significant impact on the annual CPI measure this month. When prices for some items move by large amounts, measures of underlying inflation like the CPI excluding volatile items and holiday travel, and the Trimmed mean can provide additional insights into how inflation is trending,” Marquardt said.

“Annual trimmed mean inflation was 3.5 per cent, up from 3.2 per cent in the previous month and similar to where it was in August. The CPI excluding volatile items and holiday travel was 2.4 per cent in the 12 months to October, down from 2.7 per cent in September,” Marquardt added.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (KD)