As parts of Australia burn, no matter where you are, you can expect some items to burn a bigger hole in your pocket this year.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), should the Consumer Price Index (CPI) follow last year’s trend, we can expect a CPI increase of around 0.6 per cent before the middle of this year.
The representative price movements of a basket of common commodities in 2019 reveal that we can expect to pay less for fruits and vegetables (-2.8 per cent) – though bushfires may affect this forecast – and electricity (-1.7 per cent), but more for tobacco (2.4 per cent), international travel (2.7 per cent) and medical commodities (2.6 per cent).
And while these increases may sting, the cost of fuel could set many budgets ablaze, as it is expected to increase by more than 10 per cent – a rise so big that it will have a significant impact on overall CPI.
“This rise had a significant impact on the CPI, contributing half of the 0.6 per cent rise this quarter,” said ABS chief economist Bruce Hockman.
CPI increases will most likely affect Canberra the least, with the lowest change across the country at 0.3 per cent. The capital is followed by Sydney at 0.37 per cent, Melbourne and Adelaide at 0.5 per cent and Perth and Darwin will see the largest swings with 0.7 and 0.8 per cent increases respectively.
YourLifeChoices’ December edition of the Retirement Affordability Index™ shows that recreation costs were already costing affluent retirees the most money in the September quarter of 2019, while cash-strapped retirees were paying more for food, due to the drought. It would be safe to expect that the fires ravaging much of Australian will also contribute to higher food costs this year.
There were very few price falls in the September quarter, with the exception of communication (-1.1 per cent) and transport, due to a two per cent drop in automotive fuel costs.
What do you expect to pay more for in 2020?
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