CANBERRA, Jun 26 (NNN-AAP) – Australia’s annual rate of inflation eased more than expected in May, to the lowest level this year, according to official data.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), said yesterday that, the consumer price index (CPI) rose by 2.1 percent, in the 12-month period to May, down from 2.4 percent in the year to Apr, and the lowest annual figure since Oct, 2024.
Local media reported, economists had expected the CPI to rise by 2.3 percent in the year to May.
The annual trimmed mean, the Reserve Bank of Australia’s preferred measure of underlying inflation, fell from 2.8 percent in the year to Apr, to 2.4 percent in the 12-month period to May.
Michelle Marquardt, head of prices statistics at the ABS, said, it was the lowest rate of annual trimmed mean inflation, since Nov, 2021.
The ABS said, the biggest contributors to CPI growth in the year to May were food and non-alcoholic beverages, housing, and alcohol and tobacco.
It said that, food and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose by 2.9 percent over the 12-month period, down from 3.1 percent in the year to Apr.
Rents rose by 4.5 percent in the 12 months to May, down from a 5.0 percent rise in the 12 months to Apr, and the lowest annual growth since Dec, 2022.
Those rises were partially offset by a 5.9 percent decline in electricity prices, over the 12 months, which was driven by government rebates, and automotive fuel prices falling by 10 percent, in the same period, to the lowest level since Sept, 2022.– NNN-AAP
