- Inflation fell to 4.1 per cent in year to December
- This marked big drop from September’s 5.4 per cent
Inflation has fallen significantly to a two-year low just months before Australians are due to receive their tax cuts.
The consumer price index dropped to 4.1 per cent in the year to December, down from 5.4 per cent annually in September.
This was the lowest headline inflation rate since December 2021, when it was at 3.5 per cent following the lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne but before Russia’s Ukraine invasion pushed up petrol prices.
Headline inflation has surprised on the downside, with price pressures easing after the Reserve Bank of Australia raised interest rates in November for the 13th time in 18 months, taking the cash rate to a 12-year high of 4.35 per cent.
Inflation has fallen significantly just months before Australians are due to receive some generous tax cuts (pictured is a Sydney Woolworths shopper)
The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data has been released a week after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Labor would revise his Liberal predecessor Scott Morrison’s Stage Three tax cuts policy so more relief flowed to low and middle-income earners from July 1.
Prices for some items even went backwards in 2023, with clothing and footwear 1.1 per cent cheaper, as Australian consumers flocked to the November Black Friday sales instead of leaving their Christmas shopping to December.
This was the lowest headline inflation rate since December 2021, when it was at 3.5 per cent following the lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne but before Russia ‘s Ukraine invasion pushed up petrol prices (pictured is a Sydney petrol station in August 2023)
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