Meat relief (for some types)
June 2023 CPI Update
June 2023 quarterly consumer price indicators were released today from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and there are the beginnings of some good deflationary signals for red meat, pork, vegetables and coffee & tea categories. Analysis of the quarter one to quarter two change in 2023 highlights beef prices have eased the most over the successive quarters, with the price indicator down by 1.7%. Pork was next to top the deflationary category with a 0.7% drop in the price indicator and coffee/tea category was not too far behind with a 0.6% easing over the quarter.
Within the meat sector, poultry was still firmly entrenched in an inflationary cycle, with the price indicator up by 2.2% from Q1 versus Q2. Staying in the inflationary feathered space, the price indicator for eggs was also up by 2.0%. However, the standout for food inflation over the June quarter was the vegetables category with a 3.8% lift in its price indicator.
Turning from the quarterly indicator change to the annual indicator change from 2022 to 2023 it appears that the softer saleyard prices for lamb and cattle are beginning to flow through to the retail level with the lamb indicator down by 1.2% and the beef indicator easing by 0.9%. Despite the higher quarterly move for the vegetable category on an annual basis prices so far in 2023 are still lower than in 2022 with the annual indicator down by 1.2% year on year.
