Annual inflation remained steady at 2.1 percent in October, supported by a continued fall in electricity prices.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) head of prices statistics Michelle Marquardt said the 2.1 percent October figure meant the annual inflation rate remained at its lowest since July, 2021.
Ms Marquardt said annual CPI inflation had fallen from 3.8 percent in June to 2.1 percent in October due, in part, due to significant price falls in Electricity and Automotive fuel.
She said Electricity fell 35.6 percent in the 12 months to October, which was the largest annual fall in the electricity series ever recorded in the CPI, with Automotive fuel prices falling 11.5 percent over the past 12 months.
“The falls in electricity and fuel had a significant impact on the annual CPI measure this month.
“When prices for some items move by large amounts, measures of underlying inflation like the CPI excluding volatile items and holiday travel, and the Trimmed mean can provide additional insights into how inflation is trending.”
Ms Marquardt said annual Trimmed mean inflation was 3.5 percent, up from 3.2 percent in the previous month and similar to where it was in August.
“The CPI excluding volatile items and holiday travel was 2.4 percent in the 12 months to October, down from 2.7 percent in September.”
