🇦🇺 Live ABS CPI Data · Feb 2026

Australia
in Numbers

Population, income, rent, housing & economic data for every suburb in Australia. Powered by ABS data. No spin. Just numbers.

Hobart
Most Expensive City
Perth
Fastest Rising (+4.9%)
Darwin
Best Value City
+3.7%
National CPI · YoY
All Groups · Year on Year · Feb 2026
All Groups CPI — 13-month trend
📊 Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics — Consumer Price Index (Cat. 6401.0)
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Monthly Commentary

The Vibes Check

We read the data so you don't have to. The vibe is not great, chief.

Feb 2026

Electricity Bills Up 37.0% — Turn Off the Lights

😱

Energy prices are up 37.0% year-on-year. The government's energy rebates are the only thing standing between Australians and full-blown panic at the meter box. Spoiler: they're not enough. Bring a candle to your next dinner party — it's "ambience", not desperation.

Feb 2026

Rent Up 3.8% — The Great Australian Squeeze Continues

🏠

Rents are up 3.8% YoY and the landlords still haven't got the memo. Vacancy rates are near record lows in most capitals. The dream of owning a home has been replaced by a different Australian dream: finding a rental that doesn't have mould, three flatmates, and a landlord who texts at 11pm.

Feb 2026

Insurance: Paying More, Covered Less

😬

Insurance costs are surging across the board — home, car, and health. Premiums are up, excesses are up, and coverage seems to be going in the other direction. The system is technically working exactly as designed. That's the problem.

City Breakdown

Who's getting ripped off hardest?

The same basket, eight cities, one brutal truth. Click a city for the full inflation breakdown.

National average CPI index: 101.28 · Click a city card to explore category breakdown
Hobart — Inflation by Category
CPI Index: 101.46 · YoY: +4.0%
Beef and veal
+14.8%
Electricity
+14.2%
Coffee, tea and cocoa
+10.6%
Utilities
+10.3%
Alcohol and tobacco
+7.6%
Eggs
+7.5%
Housing
+6.5%
Take away and fast foods
+5.7%
Milk
+5.5%
Gas and other household fuels
+5.0%
Meals out and take away foods
+4.5%
Food and non-alcoholic beverages
+4.0%
Medical and hospital services
+3.9%
Water and sewerage
+3.6%
Restaurant meals
+3.3%
Rents
+2.4%
Category Inflation

What's costing you more

Year-on-year price change by category. National averages — Feb 2026 vs the year prior.

🔥 Hall of Shame — Biggest price rises
Electricity
+37.0%
Utilities
+22.4%
Beef and veal
+13.5%
Coffee, tea and cocoa
+11.4%
Housing
+7.2%
Water and sewerage
+7.1%
Gas and other household fuels
+5.5%
Medical and hospital services
+4.4%
📉 Prices actually falling
Cheese -0.1%Private motoring -0.2%Transport -0.2%Poultry -0.7%Pharmaceutical products -2.7%Automotive fuel -7.2%
Electricity
+37.0%
Utilities
+22.4%
Beef and veal
+13.5%
Coffee, tea and cocoa
+11.4%
Housing
+7.2%
Water and sewerage
+7.1%
Gas and other household fuels
+5.5%
Medical and hospital services
+4.4%
Alcohol and tobacco
+4.3%
Take away and fast foods
+3.9%
Rents
+3.8%
Meals out and take away foods
+3.7%
Milk
+3.7%
Restaurant meals
+3.6%
Eggs
+3.3%
Food and non-alcoholic beverages
+3.1%
Motor vehicles
+1.2%
Communication
+0.8%
Bread
+0.7%
Cheese
-0.1%
Private motoring
-0.2%
Transport
-0.2%
Poultry
-0.7%
Pharmaceutical products
-2.7%
Automotive fuel
-7.2%
Historical Trend

13 months of financial reality

All Groups CPI by capital city — watch the lines diverge. Hover for exact values.

Melbourne
Darwin
Canberra
Sydney
Perth
Adelaide
Hobart
Brisbane
Go Deeper

Explore the data

Real ABS data, updated automatically. Pick a topic.

🛒
Cost of Living
The full picture — rent, wages, inflation, and what it actually costs to live here.
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📈
Inflation Rate
CPI data by city and category. Where prices are rising fastest.
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📉
Wages vs Inflation
Are wages keeping up? WPI vs CPI by state — the answer might hurt.
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👷
The Job Market
Unemployment by state, participation rates, and who's actually hiring.
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💰
What Australia Earns
Average earnings by state, industry, and gender. The numbers they don't advertise.
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💵
Median Income
What the typical Aussie actually takes home — by state and industry.
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🏠
The Property Market
Mean dwelling prices and how many years of salary it takes to buy one.
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👥
Population
State breakdown, demographics, and where Australians actually live.
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🎓
School Search
Find any Australian school by name or suburb. ICSEA, enrolments and catchment maps.
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⛽
Petrol Prices
Average fuel prices by capital city, price history and the weekly price cycle.
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👶
Parental Leave Calculator
Government Paid Parental Leave plus employer leave, week by week.
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🧾
Contractor vs Employee
ABN or PAYG? Take-home pay, hidden costs and the break-even day rate.
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🔥
FIRE Calculator
Your FIRE number, years to retirement, and Coast FIRE target in Australian dollars.
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🕰️
Grocery Time Machine
What 15 everyday grocery items cost in 2000, 2010 and today.
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🏆
Richest Suburbs
Australian suburbs ranked by median income, from the 2021 Census.
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🏘️
Browse 2,432 Suburbs
Search any suburb — population, income, rent, and demographics from ABS Census.
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📊 Data Sources
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Consumer Price Index (Cat. 6401.0) — quarterly & monthly CPI by city and category. The source of all this pain.
ABS CPI Release →
Price Data API
Grocery prices — 114M+ products tracked daily across Woolworths, Coles, Aldi and more. Real shelf prices, not what the labels say.
Internal source