Australian Producer Prices Rise 1.1% in Third Quarter as Construction Costs Persist

Australian producer prices increased 1.1% in the September quarter of 2026, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Friday, October 30. The annual increase was 3.6%, unchanged from the previous quarter.

The quarterly rise in the final-demand Producer Price Index, which excludes exports, eased from 1.3% in the June quarter. It nevertheless exceeded the 1.0% increase expected by economists surveyed ahead of the release, according to independently published financial reporting. Producer prices measure changes in costs at different stages of production and should not be confused with the consumer price index paid by households.

The statistics agency attributed the rise mainly to construction and services. Building construction output prices increased 1.3% over the quarter. Higher wages, shortages of skilled workers and freight charges for imported materials contributed to pressure on costs, while sustained demand for residential property continued to affect rental prices.

There were offsetting declines in parts of manufacturing. Output prices for the manufacturing industry fell 1.3%, driven by petroleum and coal products as global oil prices eased from their earlier peaks. That reduction did not fully counter the increases recorded elsewhere in the economy.

The new figures add to the economic data available to the Reserve Bank of Australia before its November 2–3 monetary-policy meeting. The central bank's cash rate stood at 4.60%, and policymakers faced persistent inflation pressures. The producer-price release does not itself establish what decision the bank will make.

Australia's headline consumer inflation had reached 4.3% in the year to September, according to a separate statistics-agency release earlier in the week. The producer-price figures provide a different measure of price pressures, reflecting what businesses receive for goods and services rather than a direct measure of household inflation.