Annual Australian inflation hits 7.8 per cent in December quarter amid cost of living crisis

Inflation increased by 7.8 percent year on year in the December quarter as upward price pressure on goods and services remains strong.

Quarterly inflation rose 1.9 percent, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

In the last quarter of 2022, underlying inflation, excluding major price rises and falls, rose by 6.9 percent year-on-year.

This is the highest increase in the consumer price index since 1990.

The price of goods and services started to rise last year due to ongoing disruptions from COVID-19, the war in Ukraine and strong consumer demand following the pandemic.

Rising inflation prompted the Reserve Bank to raise interest rates from an all-time low of 0.1 percent.

In the September quarter, headline inflation increased by 7.3 percent on an annual basis and by 1.8 percent over the quarter.

This followed another 1.8 percent increase in the June quarter.