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Australia’s annual consumer-price inflation accelerated to 4.3% in September from 4.0% in August, with housing the largest contributor to the rise, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported Wednesday.
Consumer prices rose 0.8% over the month, according to the ABS release. The figures were published at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday in Sydney, equivalent to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in New York.
Annual trimmed-mean inflation, a measure designed to reduce the influence of unusually large price changes, was 3.6% in September. August’s reading was revised down to 3.5% from the previously reported 3.6% because of changes in seasonal factors.
Housing prices were 5.2% higher than a year earlier. The ABS said the increase reflected higher costs for new dwellings and electricity. New-dwelling prices rose 4.7% over the year as builders passed on higher material and labour costs, slowing from 5.4% in August.
Transport was the second-largest contributor to annual inflation, with prices up 8.7% from a year earlier because of higher automotive-fuel costs.
Fuel prices rose 9.4% in September alone, following a 14.8% increase in August. The ABS attributed the latest monthly increase to higher world oil prices. Automotive fuel was excluded from September’s trimmed mean, helping explain the gap between the headline and underlying annual readings.
The release also included quarterly figures. The consumer-price index rose 1.3% in the September quarter, while the trimmed mean on the pre-October 2025 basis increased 1.0%. Those quarterly measures are separate from the monthly and annual figures.
The report records a faster rise in the overall cost of the consumer basket, even as annual new-dwelling inflation eased.
JBizNews Desk | Sydney
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