Introduction

Australia’s cost-of-living crisis has emerged as a major concern in recent years, driven by sharp increases in the prices of essential goods and services. Inflation surged to multi-decade highs during 2022–23, significantly straining household budgets. By the March quarter 2025, inflation has eased to 2.4% annually — back within the Reserve Bank’s target range of 2–3% — but this moderation masks substantial variation across spending categories.

In this report, we analyse official Consumer Price Index (CPI) data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for the March quarter 2025. We focus on five key categories that shape everyday living costs: - Housing (rents and new dwellings), - Food and non-alcoholic beverages, - Electricity, - Education, and - Transport.

Through a series of targeted visualizations, we explore both quarterly spikes and annual trends, providing a clearer picture of where cost pressures are most intense. This analysis is intended for a general audience and policymakers, translating raw CPI data into meaningful insights on how Australians are being affected — and where policy interventions may already be having an impact.

Objective

This project aims to deliver a data-driven narrative of Australia’s cost-of-living crisis by:

  • National CPI Trends: Analysing headline and underlying (trimmed mean) CPI to understand the broader inflation trajectory.

  • Sectoral Price Pressures: Exploring detailed price movements in core categories such as services and groceries to identify inflation hotspots.

  • Housing & Utilities: Visualising cost trends in essential areas like rents, new dwellings, and electricity, especially the impact of government rebates.

  • Insurance & Education Costs: Comparing inflation in two major non-discretionary service categories — education and insurance — to assess their burden on households.

Data Source:

The analysis is based on publicly available CPI datasets from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), using data up to the March Quarter 2025.

Data Preparation (Load and Clean)

Sectoral Price Pressures

3. Quarterly CPI Change Contributors (Top Categories) [Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (2025). Consumer Price Index, Australia.]

5. Grocery Price Changes Over Time [Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (2025). Consumer Price Index, Australia.]

Housing & Utilities

6. Electricity Price Index Over Time [Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (2025). Consumer Price Index, Australia.]

Insurance & Education Costs

References

  1. Dataset:
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