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A lot of products got cheaper in 2018

Nick Bendel avatar
Nick Bendel
- 2 min read
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Prices always go up, right? Well, not for everything, according to the latest inflation data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

While the average price of all products and services rose by 1.8 per cent during 2018, there were numerous items that experienced price falls – including the ones below:

Product / serviceAnnual change
Audio, visual & computing equipment-8.8%
Child care-8.3%
Footwear-5.5%
Telecommunication equipment & services-4.7%
Household textiles-3.7%
Personal care products-2.8%
Games, toys & hobbies-2.8%
Domestic & household services-1.9%
Cleaning & maintenance products-1.4%
Motor vehicles-1.1%

Smoking and drinking became much dearer

That said, prices rose in most of the 11 different categories monitored by the ABS.

Only three of the categories experienced price falls – clothing and footwear; furnishings, house equipment and services; and communication.

CategoryAnnual change
Alcohol & tobacco6.8%
Health3.3%
Transport2.8%
Education2.7%
Recreation & culture1.7%
Insurance & financial services1.5%
Food & non-alcoholic beverages1.5%
Housing1.5%
Clothing & footwear-0.7%
Furnishings, household equipment & services-0.8%
Communication-4.3%

All hail Hobart, the inflation king

All of Australia’s capital cities became more expensive places to live during 2018.

Hobart, Canberra and Melbourne experienced above-average inflation, while prices in the other five capitals grew at below-average rates.

CityAnnual change
Hobart3.0%
Canberra2.5%
Melbourne2.0%
Sydney1.7%
Adelaide1.6%
Brisbane1.5%
Perth1.3%
Darwin1.2%

Disclaimer

This article is over two years old, last updated on January 31, 2019. While RateCity makes best efforts to update every important article regularly, the information in this piece may not be as relevant as it once was. Alternatively, please consider checking recent credit cards articles.

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Product database updated 28 Nov, 2024

This article was reviewed by Head of SEO Leigh Stark before it was published as part of RateCity's Fact Check process.