MOMONEYMOFREEThere is no inflation rate. There's yours.
The headline says 4.6%. But the ABS's own household indexes show lived cost rising anywhere from 2.6% to 5.2% right now — and which group hurts most just flipped. The official number leaves out the one bill that moved the most: your mortgage.
the real range of lived-cost inflation across Australian households — the 4.6% headline is true for almost no one
This week’s 4 charts
tap any chart to preview ↗Your inflation depends who you are
ABS Living Cost Indexes, year to Mar-2026. The same economy, double the inflation depending on the household.
Source: ABS Selected Living Cost Indexes
The bill the CPI ignores
Mortgage interest spiked +91.6% in 2023, then turned negative as the RBA cut. The CPI never counted it — your budget did.
Source: ABS Selected Living Cost Indexes
Essentials cost more than the headline
The ~61% of your budget you can't avoid is rising faster than the things you can — and faster than the official number.
Source: ABS CPI — non-discretionary vs discretionary
What's actually rising
Electricity leads — but it's almost all the unwind of government rebates (underlying ~3.1%). Averages hide the extremes.
Source: ABS CPI, year to Apr-2026
There is no inflation rate — there's yours. One national average can't describe a renter, a mortgage-holder and a pensioner at once, and the official number leaves out the bill that swings the most. Find where you actually sit, then watch the gap — not the headline.
General information only — not financial advice. Figures are drawn from public sources, rounded and illustrative.