The Price We Pay

A Visual Story of Inflation and Income in Australia

Understand which everyday costs have increased most since 2020 and how wages have responded.

Victorian households | General public | Policy-aware students

Tracking the rise in Australia’s overall cost of living

Break down on essential categories since 2020 - starting with housing.

Food prices surged sharply post-2020, making everyday essentials noticeably costlier.

Energy and transport prices spiked significantly post-2020, with electricity and gas driving the surge.

Energy and housing costs accelerated the fastest:

Although wage growth has finally overtaken inflation,the catch-up may have come too late for those who faced the brunt of rising costs in 2022–2023.

REFERENCES

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (n.d.-a). Consumer Price Index, Australia [Time series data, Table 1 & 13]. Retrieved June 11, 2025, from https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/price-indexes-and-inflation/consumer-price-index-australia

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (n.d.-b). Average Weekly Earnings, Australia [Table 1: Weekly earnings by sector and sex]. Retrieved June 11, 2025, from https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/earnings-and-working-conditions/average-weekly-earnings-australia

RMIT University. (2025). MATH2270 – Data Visualisation and Communication (2510) [Course content]. Canvas. https://rmit.instructure.com/courses/141296/modules