Australia’s consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.7% in the 12 months to February 2026, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
“The 3.7% annual CPI inflation to February eased slightly from the 3.8% annual CPI inflation to January,” ABS Head of Prices Statistics Sue-Ellen Luke said in a media release.
The largest contributor to annual inflation in February was housing, which rose by 7.2%, followed by a 3.1% rise in food and non-alcoholic beverages and a 4.1% rise in recreation and culture.
The February rate was also below the consensus forecast of 3.9%.
The ABS said trimmed mean inflation was 3.3%, unchanged from 3.3% in the 12 months to January 2026.
Trimmed mean, or underlying, inflation is more closely watched than the headline rate by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) as it considers monetary policy.
Electricity costs rose 37% in the 12 months to February, up from 32.2% to January, mainly because households used up the extended Commonwealth Energy Bill Relief Fund (EBRF) and state government rebates.
Excluding this, electricity prices rose 4.9%, reflecting annual price reviews by energy retailers in July 2025.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages rose 3.1%, transport costs fell 0.2%, while automotive fuel prices dropped 7.2%.
The RBA last week lifted the official cash interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.10% after assessing economic data in recent months that confirmed inflationary pressures had picked up materially in the second half of 2025.
The decision was not unanimous, with the RBA disclosing in a media release that the decision was made by a majority of directors, with five voting in favour of lifting the rate and four voting for leaving it unchanged.
