Inflation Explorer
Your Shopping Basket
Start exploring items you might put in your own shopping basket and compare how inflation has changed over time.
Follow steps 1, 2 and 3 below.
- Choose up to three items to compare from the drop-down list below
You have chosen
- You cannot choose more than 3 categories.
- Enter an amount of money in either box for each item you have chosen, and click on ‘Calculate’.
For example, you could estimate how much a family might have spent each week in ‘To Year’ on the item, and enter that amount in the ‘Amount’ box to the right.
- Please enter an amount greater than zero in any of the text boxes. Do not include spaces or commas.
Your Price Series
Disclaimer
The results produced by the Inflation Explorer are intended as an education tool only and should not be regarded as ‘official’ Reserve Bank calculations. While every effort has been made by the Bank to ensure that the data and formulae used to generate the results are accurate, the Bank accepts no liability or responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the resulting calculations and recommends that users exercise their own care and judgment with respect to the Inflation Explorer's use.
Related Information
User Guides
Inflation Explorer – How to Use It
Learn more about how to use the Inflation Explorer and how to read the graph.
Download 250KB
Learning Activities
Exploring Inflation
Work through this Activity to investigate interesting examples of inflation developments and trends.
Download 138KB
Data Source
The data used in the Inflation Explorer are from the Consumer Price Index (CPI) release published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The data are original (non-seasonally adjusted).
Timing of Updates
The Inflation Explorer is updated with the latest calendar year of data on the day after each December quarter CPI release. The expected release dates of ABS data are shown on the ABS Release Calendar.
Calculation
Inflation Calculator
The Inflation Calculator performs the same calculations as the Inflation Explorer but for the overall CPI basket only. It can be used to examine periods earlier than accessed in the Inflation Explorer (prior to 1966), and enables comparisons of quarterly and financial year time periods.
Explainers
Inflation and its Measurement
Describes how inflation is measured, explains how different indicators of underlying inflation are calculated, and outlines some of the limitations of using the Consumer Price Index.
Download 169KB
Australia's Inflation Target
Describes the inflation target, why the Reserve Bank targets inflation and how the target works.
Download 120KB
Causes of Inflation
Describes what inflation is and the main causes of changes in the inflation rate.
Download 198KB