Australia's Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.9 per cent in the March 2025 quarter, taking the annual inflation rate to 2.4 per cent, according to the latest figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The figure is unchanged from the annual rise recorded in the December 2024 quarter.
On a monthly basis, the CPI indicator also showed a 2.4 per cent rise in the 12 months to March, matching the increase recorded in February.
The weighted average CPI for the eight capital cities highlighted a softening in the clothing and footwear category. Annual inflation in this category declined to just 0.7 per cent in March, compared with 1.8 per cent in February and 2.1 per cent in January.
Within this category, garments experienced outright deflation. Prices dropped by 1.4 per cent in the 12 months to March, following smaller rises of 0.6 per cent in February and 0.9 per cent in January, ABS said in a release.
The trimmed mean CPI—a core measure of underlying inflation that filters out volatile price movements—stood at 2.7 per cent annually in March, unchanged from February.
One of the key developments in the March data was the pickup in annual goods inflation, which rose to 1.3 per cent, up from 0.8 per cent in the previous quarter.
ALCHEMPro News Desk (HU)
Receive daily prices and market insights straight to your inbox. Subscribe to AlchemPro Weekly!
marketing@alchempro.com
