Scary graphics reveal the full impact of Australia's cost of living crisis on grocery spending
The reason your weekly grocery store is becoming so much more expensive has been revealed because the cost of living crisis continues to hit shoppers at the checkout.
The weekly staple, which saw its biggest price increase in a year, was mentioned in the data behind this week’s announcement that inflation was at its highest level in two decades.
Vegetables, fruit, breakfast cereals, breads, eggs, oil, butter and margarine all spiked in price last year according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Smile and hold on: The reason your weekly grocery store is getting so much more expensive has been revealed as the cost of living crisis continues to hit shoppers at checkout
The opposite graph has depicted an alarming rise in the cost of basic foodstuffs, with vegetables, cereals and other household staples topping the list of sharp price increases.
The ABS released its quarterly Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures – a key measure of inflation – on Wednesday morning, showing a 6.1 percent jump over the past year.
That was the sharpest rise in inflation since mid-2001 and excludes the impact of GST, the highest since the December 1990 quarter.
The biggest spike in grocery items was vegetable prices, due to continued flooding in southeast Queensland and New South Wales.
The biggest spike in grocery items was the cost of vegetables, due to continued flooding in southeast Queensland and New South Wales
Vegetables, fruit, breakfast cereals, breads and eggs were among the items whose prices rose sharply last year according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Vegetables are up 7.3 percent in the past three months across Australia but gains were even higher in some capital cities.
In Darwin, vegetable prices rose 9 percent, while in Sydney and Melbourne vegetable prices jumped 7.7 percent.
In the 12 months to June 2022, fruit and vegetables rose 7.3 percent.
Non-alcoholic beverages – let’s say coffee, tea, juice and soft drinks rose even higher – 7.9 percent.
Butter, margarine and oil are other items that the ABS says are also rising sharply
Prices of everyday goods such as fruit and vegetables, bread, milk, meat, non-alcoholic beverages and even cleaning products have all soared in the last year as Australia’s inflation rate soared to its highest point in two decades.
There’s no respite if you choose to eat out to try and save on your last year’s grocery bill. The cost of restaurant and cafe meals and takeaways also rose 4.7 percent.
The other major share of weekly stores, bathroom supplies and cleaning products also jumped dramatically.
ABS assistance ‘Perishable household products’ (which includes toilet paper, hair, teeth, razors, all cleaning products) rose 10.7 percent last year.
The cost of non-alcoholic beverages, including coffee and tea, rose 7.9 percent last year, according to ABS
Prices of breads, cereals and other foods, such as spreads and sauces, have risen more than 6 percent in the last 12 months
Government figures say overall transportation costs (up 13.1 percent) and housing (up 9 percent) – including rent and mortgage payments – experienced the biggest jumps in the past year.
The biggest increases in the last three months were: owner-occupant purchases of new residences (up 5.6 percent), fuel (up 4.2 percent) and furniture (up 7 percent).
Prices for consumers rose in eight capital cities, with those in Perth and Brisbane experiencing the biggest annual gains of 7.4 percent and 7.3 percent, respectively.
The cost of meat and seafood across Australia rose 6.3 per cent last year
Housing costs, including new housing, rent, electricity, gas and water, rose 9 percent over the past year
Darwin (up 6.6 percent), Hobart (up 6.5 percent) and Adelaide (up 6.4 percent) saw the next biggest gains.
In Sydney prices rose 5.3 percent and Melbourne jumped 6.1 percent, while in Canberra it jumped 6.3 percent.
Across Australia, transport costs – including fuel and public transport fares – jumped 13.1 per cent in the June quarter compared with the same time last year.
Housing costs rose nine percent, no doubt led by a sharp rise in electricity costs.
The large increase in the cost of new homes in Australia in the past year was a major factor in the rise in housing costs.
‘New housing prices posted their biggest annual increase since the series began in the June 1999 quarter,’ the ABS said.
‘Prices continue to be driven by high levels of building construction activity combined with ongoing material and labor shortages.’
ABS also noted rents in Sydney and Melbourne rose for the second straight quarter.
The cost of ‘perishable household products’, the group that includes cleaning products, rose 10.7 percent last year.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says ‘it’s the opposite number’ with mortgage rates set to continue to rise
The June quarter CPI figures fueled fears of a 75 basis point rate hike in August.
Previously Treasurer Jim Chalmers said ‘this is the opposite number’ with mortgage rates set to continue to rise.
‘It’s going to be tough times ahead,’ he warned.
Headline inflation is now well above the Reserve Bank of Australia’s two to three percent target, with the latest reading marking a sharp rise from the March quarter’s 5.1 percent pace when gasoline prices rose above $2 a liter.
The consumer price index in the June quarter soared at its steepest pace since mid-2001, after unemployment last month fell to a 48-year low of 3.5 percent. But when the one-time effect of the introduction of GST is removed, Australia’s CPI is the highest since the December 1990 quarter
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