Australia’s annual inflation rose to 3.8% in October 2025 from a September reading that aligned with market forecasts of 3.6%, remaining beyond the RBA’s 2–3% target. In the first full monthly CPI report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, electricity prices accelerated (37.1% vs 33.9% in September) after the expiry of government rebates, while food inflation stayed elevated (3.2% vs 3.2%). Prices also continued to increase for alcohol & tobacco (4.4% vs 5.5%), clothing (5.4% vs 3.8%), furnishings (2.1% vs 1.8%), health (4.0% vs 4.2%), transport (2.7% vs 2.3%), communications (0.8% vs 1.6%), recreation (3.2% vs 1.8%), education (5.4% vs 5.4%), and financial services (2.5% vs 2.5%). The RBA’s trimmed mean CPI rose to 3.3% yoy, topping the 3% consensus. Monthly, the CPI was flat after a 0.5% gain in September. Today’s figure marked Australia’s transition from the quarterly CPI to the full monthly one as the primary gauge of inflation, with the series extending back to April 2024.