Australia CPI plunged -1.9% qoq in Q2, slightly above expectation of -2.0% qoq. That’s still the largest quarterly fall in the 72 year history of the data. Annually, CPI turned negative to -0.3% yoy, down from Q1’s 2.2% yoy. It’s only the third time annual inflation turned negative since 1949. The previous times were in 1962 and 1997-98.”
Nevertheless, the quarterly decline was mainly the result of free child care (-95%), a significant fall in fuel price (-19.3%) and a fall in pre-school and primary education (-16.2%). Excluding these three components, the CPI would have risen 0.1% qoq in Q2.
