Cost of living surges 7%: This is what’s costing the most
The cost of living has surged with official inflation data hitting 7 per cent in the year to July and 6.8 per cent to August.
This is the first time the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has reported inflation data monthly, with all previous reads coming out quarterly.
Because of this, the data does not include seasonal changes as there is no direct comparison to last year.
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The previous inflation read was in July when inflation surged 6.1 per cent for the quarter.
What is costing the most?
Construction costs, petrol and food were the main drivers of the increased cost of living.
The cost of building a new home rose 20.7 per cent, petrol prices were up 15 per cent and the cost of food and non-alcoholic beverages was up 9.3 per cent.
“The slight fall in the annual inflation rate from July to August was mainly due to a decrease in prices for automotive fuel,” ABS statistician David Gruen said.
“This saw the annual movement for automotive fuel fall from 43.3 per cent in June to 15 per cent in August.
"Food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation increased to 9.3 per cent in the 12 months to August with prices rising across most food categories, led by fruit and vegetables increasing from 9.1 per cent in June, to 18.6 per cent in August."
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