Inflation September 2024: prices up 2.8%

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Prices rose by 2.8% in the year to September 2024, according to new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
What is inflation?

Prices rose by 2.8% in the year to September 2024, according to new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The annual inflation figure is down from the last quarter, when prices rose 3.8% over the previous year.

This means prices are rising at a slower rate than before.

Here’s the latest.

About inflation

Inflation measures price growth. It summarises prices in around 90 categories (e.g. fruit, rent, furniture). When inflation is high and unpredictable, your money buys less.

Quarterly inflation figures are calculated based on the prices of a wider range of goods and services than the monthly figures, and are considered to be more representative.

Inflation in September 2024

The latest quarterly ABS figures show prices increased by 0.2% from July to September 2024. This means everyday goods and services cost 0.2% more in September than they did in July.

The latest annual ABS figures show prices increased by 2.8% over the 12 months to September 2024.

Despite some fluctuation, the rate of inflation has been gradually trending down from a peak in December 2022.

According to the ABS, the slowing of inflation was driven by Federal and State/Territory Government discounts on energy bills, which came into effect in July.

The cost of fuel also fell from July to September, which the ABS said was due to “lower global demand” bringing down the cost of oil.

Alcohol and tobacco saw the biggest price increase in the year to September (up 6.7%).

This was largely driven by the tax on tobacco increasing in September.

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