Australia’s consumer price inflation accelerated in the first quarter of 2026, with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rising 4.1% year-over-year, up from 3.6% in the previous quarter on the same comparison basis.
The data, updated on 29 April 2026, show that price pressures have strengthened rather than eased, as the annual rate of CPI inflation moved further above the earlier 3.6% reading recorded for the first quarter of 2026. On a year-over-year basis, the latest figure indicates that the pace of price growth has picked up compared with the same period a year earlier, signaling ongoing inflationary momentum in the Australian economy.
The year-over-year comparison framework used for both the current and previous readings measures the change in prices relative to the same quarter a year before, allowing markets and policymakers to gauge whether inflation is accelerating or moderating over time. The move from 3.6% to 4.1% suggests a notable firming in underlying price dynamics heading into the remainder of 2026.
